Team Atlantis: the Dark Continent's Enigma
by Rebmakash
Summary: The sequel to “Revelation,” and a more Milo-based story. While a plant begins to threaten the survival of Atlantis, the team goes in search of an African myth of a dinosaur.
1. CHAPTER 1: Thinking of the People

Author's Note: As the second story of the trilogy, it's a more Milo-based story, and with it comes some things I foolishly left out in the first story: description of the other characters, including fan-fictional ones, and some details are finally stressed here. I hope you enjoy this new adventure!  
  
????????TEAM ATLANTIS: THE DARK CONTINENT'S ENIGMA  
  
In a world were seemingly all was serene, in a world were people strove to learn, in a world where kindness reigned strong, there was Atlantis.  
  
CHAPTER 1: Thinking of the People  
  
Wind pulled back strands of brownish gold, buffeting all not protected by clothes or what became windshields for the eyes. The man stopped and turned the Ketak to face the world he loved.  
  
Before Milo spread a city that shone almost as beautifully as the blue sun and the rune-like planets that floated above the scene. Waves of water glistened, their diamond caps surely caressing the fisherman platforms. Spiritual mists surrounded the paradise, only adding to its mystery. The scholar's eyes were large, taking it all in as he often did. He simply could not imagine getting used to such a marvel, especially when knowing the beautiful hearts of the people could be easily compared to splendor of their home.  
  
Milo sighed in awe at the romantic ruins. It had been more than a year since he first laid eyes upon the spectacle, yet it seemed less than a day ago. He looked to the glowing ruby and topaz liquid that surrounded the city. It was already declining from its maximum height.  
  
"Oh, gosh! I'm late!" A hand was thrust upon the luminous control panel and the fish vehicle was commanded to speed forward. Wind protested again, but was easily thwarted. Over the plaza and over the great stone steps he darted, careful to avoid other vehicles. Milo landed upon a stone balcony of the palace on the "hill" remembering its once crumbling state. He dismounted, quickly running fingers through wind-tangled hair. The man put on his light indigo hat that he had been holding precariously along with his staff in his other hand. He strode quickly forward, glad his wife never minded when he was late on these rare occasions. His pace slackened when he heard heated voices dueling.  
  
Around the pillar he viewed two forms, arguing in native tongue.  
  
"My Queen, be reasonable! This will ensure our stability! We as a people will thrive for eternity!"  
  
"Khobdesheh, you know not how this. machine. works. How do you expect me to agree to something I know nothing about?" Kida's voice trembled with stress. Clearly the argument had gone on for quite some time. No one took immediate notice of Milo as he approached.  
  
"But while you are gone we shall research it, we will begin to learn its secrets. I assure you, this will stabilize Atlantis! Construction will begin shortly."  
  
"I have no doubt you believe it shall lengthen the life of our culture, but wait until we return. I do not wish to endanger the Mother Crystal, the lives of our people, with something I know so little about."  
  
"Perhaps you could take the trip later."  
  
"Perhaps I could have if I had learned of this before today."  
  
"Why can you not do this at a different time, Your Highness? This is important." He frowned with his bold, black brows.  
  
"You understand the lives of outer-worlders not exposed to the crystals are terribly short, do you not? They must be comparatively strict in their schedules. Though they are flexible, they may not change so much so quickly. To ask Mr. Whitmore and the others to forget their plans and time would be rude in our culture. Though we may live longer, it would not be wise to ask such a thing, now." While speaking she emphasized her points through desperate gesticulation, causing the sleeve of her royal blue robes to billow and swirl. The queen averted her gaze slightly.  
  
"But Kida! You must think of our people!"  
  
Milo flinched, knowing what was about to happen. It was an inferred faux pas to refer to royalty personally during an argument with him or her, but that was something easily excused by the queen. However, telling her to think of her people was as tactless as yelling at a baby for being a baby.  
  
The linguist saw Kida hurl her gaze at the advisor as one would cast a spear. Her wide, angry eyes narrowed as she pressed her lips together, as Milo noted she often did when she controlled her anger. A sigh escaped her nostrils.  
  
"I do think of the people, and that is why I am not willing to take this risk. I am sorry, Khobdesheh, but this must wait."  
  
"Could you not take with you some of the plans?"  
  
"No. I am still learning to read and write other languages." Milo felt relieved as he was suddenly noticed. Kida's hand motioned to him as she smiled. "Is not diplomacy important if our people ever encounter other cultures, in case Atlantis is ever exposed?"  
  
"But-"  
  
"The answer is no. You must wait."  
  
The consultant held out his hands pleadingly. His eyes slid to Milo.  
  
"My King," he began with a bow of a head and kneeled, ash white strands of hair momentarily covering his face. He had switched to English for courtesy, making sure the king would feel comfortable. "I beseech you, could you not persuade your queen to see differently?"  
  
"Whoa, whoa! Hold on here!" He grasped the advisor's arm and pulled him gently to his feet. "I know even less than Kida does. Sorry, Khobdesheh. I think I understand your angle, here, but you gotta understand. We can't take the risk. I agree with Kida."  
  
Khobdesheh's lips parted after licking them. The dark, caring eyes, set deep in his sharp features radiated his emotion. He turned his angular face downward in a deferential bow. "Very well," he stated with a saddened note. "Until another time." The advisor turned and slowly walked away, large eyes watching the ground move beneath him. Milo watched until he was but a smear of flesh, cinder white, and green.  
  
"Kida, I-" He pivoted to find his wife looking away, beginning to pace toward the hall that led to the balcony as she held her own hands.  
  
"Kida, what is it?" he inquired. The scholar trotted to her side and took her hands in his as they walked.  
  
"It is Khobdesheh again. We have very different views as to how to care for our people. He does not know, as an advisor, when to persevere in a matter. nor does he yet know patience." As they reached the balcony, Milo noticed her pause. "Temlon would have understood. Father surely would have."  
  
Milo felt his hands squeezed, knowing how much the queen still missed her parents. He returned the grip as she continued.  
  
"His decisions on important matters are too rushed. They are hasty to the point of being unwise. At least he comes to us first on such things."  
  
He looked sympathetically into Kida's gentle blue eyes though hers looked to her feet. He hesitated, and then decided to respond after all.  
  
"Ya know, Kida, sometimes seemingly unwise decisions can lead to good things."  
  
"I know what he suggests may help our people, but are you saying you agree with him?"  
  
"No, no," he waved his hands. "I-I mean what I said. What would have happened if, more than a year ago, a princess, with her fellow hunters, decided to obey the law? Where would we have been if you had not taken the risk of bringing explorers into the city?"  
  
Kida looked up and smiled, impressed, at Milo. "That is true." Her eyes looked to the side, as one who does not want to speak directly to someone for fear of spreading their troubles. Smile having languished, she continued. "He wishes to change our system of rule. I have warned him of the need of royalty so the Heart may save us in times of dire need, whether by lineage or by marriage. I know not if he heeds it." A weak laugh met Milo's ears. "He is to government as you are to language and culture."  
  
"Yeah, I know. When we returned from our trip several months ago, he was asking me about the governments we encountered." He stopped to chuckle for a second. "Khobdesheh wants me to take notes when we go out."  
  
"He wishes the best for our people. He searches for a strong, stable government because he believes it will ensure our survival, that we shall not suddenly collapse. Strange, it is, that he thinks that now that we are on the rise. Where chaos reigns, savagery and death are sure to follow. What does he think of America's version of democracy?"  
  
"Oh, he doesn't like it, but at least he makes a good point why." An insect landed on his glasses, which he ordered away with waves of his hand, looking as if he were gesturing. "He says it depends too fully on the education of the people. The 'uneducated masses' as he puts them. " His fingers mimicked quotation marks, and the erudite man saw his wife cock her head, uncomprehending and curious of the gesture. Milo continued before he forgot his words. "'The people are to ignorant to rule themselves.' He sounds like the Founding Fathers must have," he communicated with a chuckle at the consultant's narrow-mindedness.  
  
"Founding. Fathers?"  
  
"The men who established America. I'll teach you later." In a brief silence, save for some calm murmur of the wind and distant call of yeragos, the multilingual man placed his arms around her ribs and her arms encompassed his shoulders.  
  
Pulling away, just slightly to see her face better, Milo came to a realization and began to state it. "You. don't seem to worry about being a good queen."  
  
The look of love melted from her tattooed face as she broke from his embrace. The graceful woman did not answer immediately as she put her arms on the railing in a similar fashion to the way she sometimes placed her arms on her husband's shoulders. He watched her eyes scan the city in its magnificence.  
  
"I do worry, Milo," she spoke solemnly. "I do not worry about being the best I can possibly be. I have spent my entire life with the people and I believe I understand their needs. I will strive with all my spirit to help them. I fear encountering something I cannot solve, that no one can, and, as a result, we shall fall again."  
  
The husband's face was sympathetic and comprehending. "Don't worry. We'll get through everything." he walked to her side and placed a tattooed hand on hers, ".together."  
  
"I know." Her tone conveyed she was comforted by his very presence though she bit her lip. The academic felt a warm hand on top of his. "How are you fairing as king?"  
  
"Well, I settled a minor dispute in the marketplace as I met with the people." Milo continued as he folded his hands on top of his head. "There was a new vendor selling these specially bread yeragos. Really pretty things. Blue green and crimson. Anyway, there was an argument between him and a customer over the care of them. We finally went to the breeder and settled it. Did Khobdesheh tell you a strange machine's been found?"  
  
"I am aware. He is not fighting for research on it rather than the currently non-existing one. What else is there?"  
  
"Oh, the museum's going well. I found an alcove of trinkets from before the Great Flood. I mean, a visual presentation would help others learn about the past easier, right? The classroom for learning to read and write has been moved to inside that building--well, a part that was in the building years ago." The scholar leaned against the railing. "Did I tell you Khob's been doing a good job making sure the classes continued while we were on WEH-dihn-tem?"  
  
"Yes, you have. My King," Kida said with a gentle nod. She said "My King" with the same affection as one would say "my love."  
  
"I don't know why you're all so eager to call me your king. I'm just a representative, you know."  
  
"I do. You say you wish to learn more of our customs and grow more experienced before taking the full role."  
  
"Yeah. I can still run the museum and classes when I'm king, right?"  
  
"Why could you not? You may do anything you like as long as it is in the best interest of the people."  
  
"Of course. I want them to call me by my name, though, not 'king.'"  
  
"As do I. One finds out more about others when they are more relaxed," her voice vibrated through laughter. His chuckles melded with hers. "I do wish you had let us conduct at marriage the ceremony of the bind--"  
  
"I know, just when I'm ready, okay? I don't exactly have thousands of years of study in Atlantean royal procedures, you know." He rubbed the back of his neck and quickly changed the subject. "Oh! By the way, do you want me to bring more scrolls along the way so we can continue our studies."  
  
"Yes. Bring your spear as well, so we may also continue your learning."  
  
"Sounds good." His voice trailed off as he looked at his staff and his wife's, both very different, yet both sporting gourds of crystals and were lovingly designed by their spouse. His eyes moved along the angles of the Atlantean "A" of his truncheon, finally landing on the crystal that hung in the center, representing his courage in saving the Heart of Atlantis and his will to protect it. Kida stirred, moving her spear-like staff slightly. The gourds rattled from a hook that symbolized in its strong, yet gentle curve both her determination and kindness. From it his eyes moved to hers. Her concerned eyes were once again gazing at the city.  
  
"Something else is wrong, isn't there?" The bend of his arm lightly caught her supple waist. "Khobdesheh and the weight of being queen never bothered you that much."  
  
The huntress queen sighed quite audibly before turning to him. "This problem we may not be able to solve. You are aware of kriperlok, are you not?"  
  
"KREE-puhr-lokh?" It was his turn to sound things out as he shook his head.  
  
"You should have come on the last hunt. It is a plant, and it is toxic for most animals to eat. They are covering everything. The armags--"  
  
"Okay, what are 'UHR-mugs?'"  
  
"Armags eat kriperlok. However, they are becoming scarce. Using the vehicles we have herded as many as we can find into an area where their only predator, the Charokhs, cannot ambush them."  
  
"Land beasts?"  
  
"Yes. You must come with me next time." Kida continued. "We hope their numbers will increase enough they may solve the problem. We have been hunting the Charokh even more to reduce their killings."  
  
Milo vividly remembered the taste of Charaokh meat. A difficult food to work with, the substance would taste almost bitter if poorly prepared. It was, however, known for its nutritious properties. Shaking himself out of the flash of memory, he asked, "Are the plants poisonous to people?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Why don't we try eating them, then?"  
  
"One would receive more nourishment eating a strip of shokah bark than to eat all five meals consisting of that plant. Armags can make good use of what nutrition to provides, while we cannot."  
  
"Do we eat armags?"  
  
Milo saw her curious look as she shook her head.  
  
"Well, if we don't eat them or the plants, and the plants are only dangerous if the animals eat them, what's the problem? The animals don't eat them for the most part, do they? Keeping a species alive is important for the obvious reason, just to keep the food chain balanced and make sure the charokh don't eat themselves out of house and home, but." He shrugged.  
  
"The plants interfere with the hunt. They have a tendency to crunch when trod on. There is no way to muffle it, and it alerts the prey. Additionally, it is easy to become caught in their dry vines and fall."  
  
"We'll figure out a way to increase their numbers."  
  
Kida put her arms around him. "Yes."  
  
"Why didn't you tell me there was a problem?"  
  
"It did not affect you. Why should I worry you with something you could not help?"  
  
"True, but even so, if you need to talk, it won't bother me. Like with your father. You talk to me about missing him. Think of it as the same thing. We don't need to keep anything from each other."  
  
"Thank you." A single tear peeked out of the corner of her eye before her husband wiped it away.  
  
They stood in silent embrace for several moments, gently swaying for comfort. The wind carried the sound of breath rushing through a giant spiral shell. The flourish did not make the couple move.  
  
"They are here," the queen spoke softly.  
  
"I know." They held each other a moment longer.  
  
  
  
Based off the Disney Picture "Atlantis: the Lost Empire." The name "Atlantis: Revelation," "armags," "kriperlok," and the characters Temlohn, Duma and Neil are my (Rebmakash's) property. The characters, "MUH-suh MIH-kee" and Khohbdesheh are my property, and I acknowledge I do not own the names. Fan fiction storyline also my property. Milo Thatch, Kidagakash, Puknohl, Wandehm and other characters, names, concepts, and all Atlantean in this story are property of the Walt Disney Company. I also recognize certain lines (such as "Salt, salt, and sodium chloride") are also property of the Disney Company. 


	2. CHAPTER 2: Teaching and the Trek

CHAPTER 2: Teaching and the Trek  
  
A voice, temporarily formal in tone, called through the air of Atlantis.  
  
".And may Atlantis grow as we learn!" To emphasize his point, Milo thrust a fist into the air. The shift was too much, for the oversized royal hat slid over his eyes. "Uhhh. See you, everyone," the linguist said dropping the formality of the farewell speech. He heard some modest laughter from the crowd and felt the giggling queen lift the darkness of the hat from his eyes. "Thanks." The response to this was a hummed chuckle from Kida.  
  
With the departure speech complete, the scholar turned from the people to his wife, and they rushed inside the palace to change into garb more suitable for travel. Milo led his wife to the waiting Aktirak, and, after letting her enter first, he sat beside her, following the directions on the inscription pad. Gracefully the hammerhead vehicle rose as the people shouted goodbyes to their king and queen.  
  
Wind once again pulled at hair and garment, but now with a playful tug as they reached the cliff of the once-blaring shell. A smiling face beamed from the person who sat on top of the giant horn. Carefully the shark-form landed on the cliff edge.  
  
"Yeah, I know we're late Keneshea," Milo laughed to the woman perched atop the shell. "Sorry about that."  
  
"Apologize not to me," the woman responded, "but to them."  
  
A wave of cheerful "hellos" greeted the couple as they left their vehicle. Their old friends had returned.  
  
"Milo! Looks like you're ah doin' pretty okay for yourself, eh?" A black- combed mustached Italian came and gripped him by the shoulders with gloved hands.  
  
"Oh, yes, Vinny!" The king then gripped the queen's hand. "We-"  
  
A teenage Latino girl interrupted. "Hey, It's good to see you both again!" With the greeting came a firm punch to the shoulder.  
  
"It is good to see you again, too, Audrey!" came Kida among the voices.  
  
Cookie was next. "Hey, ya fellers! How'r doin?" Considering the odor that came from him, he had been making one of his "special" meals. "Got somethin' in the ol' chuckwagon for ya both. It could be real romantical-- "  
  
"Uh, thanks, Cookie, but we, uh. just ate." The statement was truthful.  
  
"Oh, that there's okay. It'll--"  
  
"I know. 'Keep and keep and keep!'" Milo finished for him with a slight laugh, inwardly grimacing at what the greasy meal might taste like.  
  
"Yup!" The country cook proudly held his wader's suspenders.  
  
"Milo! Kida!" A little Frenchman, sporting his unusual goggles, popped into the middle of the crowd, everyone instantly stepping back as flies buzzed around the grimy man's head.  
  
"Wow. Mole! Uh, hey! How's it goin'?" The king truly did not want to embrace the man with the outstretched arms.  
  
"Eet eez very good. A friend just sent me an exquiseet sample of permafrost in the Arctic region."  
  
"Oh! And that reminds me." He reached into the pocket of his jumper pants, finding these older clothes feeling rather strange upon his skin. Milo procured a blue wemot leather bag and handed it to Mole.  
  
"Ah! Eez it.?" Rodent-like teeth obvious in his grin, the Frenchman looked enthusiastically into the bag.  
  
"We know you were trying to be. polite by not taking any dirt from Atlantis, so we thought we should give you some."  
  
Kida responded as the geologist peered happily at the glistening soil. "It is earth from near the palace."  
  
"Oh, I am sooo thankful!" Before anyone could escape the mineralogist gripped the husband and wife, to their horror, in an enormous hug.  
  
"Uh, sure, Mole..." Milo had been glad he had buttoned his overcoat, and he now removed the dirtied garment. He smiled, pleased he had overjoyed Mole.  
  
"You are quite. welcome." The queen tried to wipe the dust from her shorter, more casual robes, a distraction Milo took advantage of.  
  
"Psst! Vinny!" Kida, he saw, had begin to speak with Audrey.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Did you get them?"  
  
Relaxed eyes searched for an answer before fully realizing what the bookish man spoke of. "Oh," he began with a hushed voice, "they're ah in the truck." He pointed with an entire hand. "Roses, right?"  
  
"You got it! Thanks, Vinny. I really owe you one."  
  
"Ey, don't ah mention it."  
  
A figure to the side caught Milo's eye. "Hey, Packard!"  
  
"Hi." The older woman put a cigarette to her lips and inhaled deeply.  
  
"Well, how are things going?"  
  
"Same as always," she continued in her nonchalant tone. It was clear she wanted to go back to gossiping with Marge as she unenthusiastically straightened the mouthpiece of her communicator gear.  
  
"Miiiilo! Been too long!" A huge, spine-cracking bear hug surprised him from behind.  
  
"Hey, Sweet! Get the new supplies you wanted?"  
  
"Yep! Got the best brands from the catalogue." He lifted the end of a stethoscope that hung on his chest. "Says this'll be twice as sensitive as your average one." He let it drop back onto the front of his olive drab tank top. The doctor presented his typically enormous grin.  
  
Past the physician was a familiar face sitting in the truck. "Garret! Haven't seen you since you took us around when Kida first came up."  
  
"Huh?" The young man looked up, bits of brown hair partially obscuring saddened green eyes. "Oh, hi Milo."  
  
"Garret, what's wrong?" The youth's face was down turned again. The scholar tried to approach, but was gently held back by a gigantic hand on the shoulder. Garret did not answer.  
  
"You'd better not," softly spoke Sweet's deep voice.  
  
"What's wrong with him?"  
  
"They sank a cruise ship, Milo." A solemn expression now pervaded the man's face.  
  
"'They?' They who?"  
  
"The Germans and their U-boats. They sank a passenger liner, even after sayin' they wouldn't sink neutral vessels. They sank a ship called the 'Lustania' just off of Ireland. It was just about a week ago. May seventh. His girlfriend was on it with her family. She didn't make it, Milo."  
  
"Oh, no. This war is getting really out of hand." The scholar shook his head remorsefully. He couldn't help but juxtapose Kida in the girlfriend's place, and, thus, understand exactly how Garret felt.  
  
"Don't all wars, really?"  
  
Milo sighed. "Yeah. but not like this. All we can hope is America doesn't get into this... or worse. Atlantis."  
  
"No one other than us knows it's here."  
  
The linguist clenched a determined fist. "I'm going to talk to him."  
  
"Already tried. Just makes the thought fresher in his mind. It doesn't help. Not yet for him. Another week or two, and he might be able to accept it all. Believe me, I've dealt with enough dying patients and their families to know."  
  
"Oh, Sweet." Another serious sigh escaped his lips. "If we can only keep America out of this."  
  
. . .  
  
  
  
The daily ritual began, the serene morning silence only adding to the deepness, the greatness, of the concepts.  
  
The man in the mirror repeated Milo's every move. He looked at himself almost incredulously, wondering if it were really true.  
  
"I'm thin," the scholar said quietly, running a hand over the modest muscles of his shoulder that were not covered by his tank top. "Gangly, my eyesight's poor without my glasses." Unconsciously he removed and cleaned them. "Some people claim what I talk about is boring." He looked into the eyes of his twin on the wall. "Few people could care if I found legends."  
  
"Yet, she doesn't care what I look like." A grin of delight, combined with the feeling it was all too good to be true, appeared on his face. "She likes learning about other cultures." He paused at the profoundness of the statement, leaning over the bathroom sink. "She loves me. For who I am! She understands!" His blissfully shook his head. "She really loves me." the soft vocalization was almost in itself a kiss upon his lips.  
  
There was a flicker of movement in the corner of the mirror.  
  
Milo whirled clumsily around on one heel, almost toppling over. "Oh! Hey. Kida." He laughed embarrassedly.  
  
The linguist lovingly viewed a petit, yet muscular form with a misty white waterfall of hair. Blue marks that matched her formal robes moved over her face as he wished his fingers did at the movement. "Good morning," she voiced with a typical half-smile.  
  
"Hey, uh. How long have you been there?"  
  
Crossing her arms, she leaned a shoulder against the doorframe. "If you are wondering, I have seen you do this before."  
  
"You-you have?" he blushed, looking over the rim of his glasses.  
  
"I certainly do not mind."  
  
"Well, I didn't think you would, but."  
  
His wife approached him with a dreamy, loving look, and she placed blue- sleeved arms around his neck. "I do as well." Her deep voice was very warm as she put her face close to his.  
  
"You do?" he smiled.  
  
She nodded, and he grasped her lean frame in affectionate embrace.  
  
. . .  
  
A warm breeze carried the salty scent of the ocean in gentle arms. The newly born sun turned the mercury waves into molten gold. Only a few magenta clouds dared to smudge the sky as a ship passed below.  
  
A blunt-fingered fair hand lovingly grasped a darker, slender one.  
  
"Hey, Kida?" He shifted the mysterious mass behind his back.  
  
The king saw her eyes turn from the vivid colors of a spectacle she rarely got to witness to his. "Yes?" she smiled.  
  
"Well, uh." He struggled to find the best words. "In my, uh, past culture- -"  
  
"Milo, it is fine to see two nations as 'your people.'"  
  
He chuckled weakly. "Well, it's a custom for a man to give a girl. a girl he really loves. something almost as pretty as she is." The linguist meekly pulled from behind his back a fragrant bouquet of flowers, bathed gold in the dawn's light.  
  
A look of delight appeared on the queen's face. "Oh, they are very beautiful!" She brushed the bangs from her face as she happily accepted the gift, notably breathing in the sweet scent. "Never have I seen flowers such as these."  
  
Milo rubbed the back of his neck as he pointed to the flowers. "They're called roses." Before he could react a pair of arms had been tossed around his neck. As always he returned the hug with all his heart. When they released each other the king took a shimmering rose bloom and placed it in the queen's snow dove hair. The wind delicately procured the scent of the enraptured queen's flowers and passed it along the waves, hoping to share the scent with yet another.  
  
"Milo?" Kida's eyes were set in the distance, in the direction of the sunrise. A jagged black line separated sea from sky. "Is that AH-frih- kah?"  
  
"Yep." A deep voice made the couple spin. "Home of some of my ancestors."  
  
"Mornin', Sweet."  
  
"Good morning."  
  
"And good mornin' to the two of you." With a fleet little movement, the black man tossed a fruit slice in his mouth. "Anyone want an orange? Got a bunch extra. They aren't apples, but they should keep me away just the same."  
  
Milo laughed. "Sure, Sweet. Thanks."  
  
"Yes, please."  
  
The doctor popped the last wedge into his mouth before opening the medical bag that never left his side. He took from it a large pouch containing a few more pieces of fruit. Milo couldn't help but feel there was nothing health related that was not I that medical bag, though he knew well that was not true. The physician tossed each a golden orb, and the couple expressed their thanks.  
  
Being without a knife, the scholar struggled to peel away the skin with short fingernails. He looked hopefully to Sweet, about to inquire to see if he had one, but found a rather unsure and surprised look on the doctor's face. He followed the gaze to his wife, who was taking a large bite of orange, rind and all.  
  
"Uh. um, Kida? You're not supposed to eat the peel."  
  
The woman simply stared at him, mouth full, and swallowed. "I suppose that would account for the bitter taste?"  
  
"Suppose it would," Sweet chuckled.  
  
As Milo finally got a finger under the orange skin and pulled it away, Sweet pulled out his last orange and began to do the same with the aid of a scalpel. Knowing Sweet, it would be carefully cleansed later. The tangy scent of the fruit almost overpowered the perfume of the roses. The studious man looked up to see his wife cutting away chunks of rind with her hunting knife before eating the fruit, many of its sections having already separated in the peeling process. A whistle blew, painfully penetrating the stirring air.  
  
"Gosh! I've got to get my notes together! See you, Sweet! Love you, Kida!"  
  
Before anyone could respond, Milo dashed across the deck to a set of stairs and descended. After flying past several doors he finally flung one open to enter his and Kida's room. He procured a pencil and a small book, for once not pulling out the Shepherd's Journal. Sticking the eraser end of the pencil in his mouth, he fumbled with some slides before tearing off. The jagged line was boldening outside.  
  
. . .  
  
  
  
Relaxed, the linguist king habitually began to flip through his notebook, carelessly nibbling the eraser of the pencil hanging out of his mouth. The room was blessed with the fragrance of the orange Milo had finished in there recently. Slowly people sauntered into the dim, makeshift presentation room, and sat down. The slide projector was the only source of illumination.  
  
The popping of bubblegum silenced the murmur of the small group of people.  
  
"Hello. everyone," Milo began. "I'm going to introduce to a myth you probably don't know much about. It's called 'Mokele-Mbembe.'"  
  
"Mohawk Bambi?" came Mole disgustedly, referencing the English story.  
  
"Moh-KEL-lee M-what?" Sweet asked.  
  
"Moh-KEH-lee Mmm-Bambi. Bembe! I mean BEM-beh!" The lecturer ran his hand over his hair with slight embarrassment. "It's an African legend. Kind of like Big Foot."  
  
Audrey expressed her irritation with a slight growl. "Uhhhg! What a waste of time that was! A family tradition in monkey suits!"  
  
"Well, that was kind of a disappointment. Many cultures have roots and reasoning in their myths and legends, though." He trailed off in thought before shaking himself out of it. "Anyway, lets' get going. Actually, Mokele-Mbemebe would be more like Nessie than Big Foot. It's a prehistoric reptile supposedly living in modern day. First off, the name means--"  
  
"'One who stops the flow of rivers.'"  
  
Milo simply stared at Kida for an instant, slightly taken aback before remembering his wife knew how to speak at least as many languages as he did. "Um. Yeah. The creature's been described differently between observer interpretation and myth. Most commonly it's believed to live in caves in the swamplands of the Likouala region. Supposedly it's about the size of an elephant and grayish-brown in color. They say its tail is strong and its neck long with a small head. Some have said it has a frill of sorts. Like a cock's comb." He noticed Kida stirring in such a way Milo thought she was about to say something.  
  
"Fossil Fried Chicken!" The voice broke all train of thought.  
  
"Shut up, Cookie," Audrey spoke again.  
  
The speaker cleared his throat to call attention. "Mokele-Mbembe fits the description of a small sauropod dinosaur. Like brontosaurus, only smaller. By the way, they've just found out they probably have the skeleton wrong, but you've got the basic concept. Now, there are currently two ways of thinking about sauropods. The newest one is that they're land animals that lived near swamps. In my opinion, the second one makes more sense. The older theory is that they actually lived in the swamps, using the water to support their enormous weight. Think of a hippopotamus. Typically the heavy animals would live in the water and occasionally come on land to graze. Mokele-Mbembe might be able to stay underwater longer if it lives on water plants. This makes sense, actually, since the creature supposedly lives in the river when it's out of the caves. Another detail to support the theory is the skulls." Milo slipped a slide into the projector, an inverted skull appearing on the projection screen.  
  
"Oops! Sorry! He quickly corrected the problem, though almost dropping the slide in his haste. "There we go." He stepped in front of the screen to motion to the image. "Now, this is the skull of diplodocus, a sauropod. Notice the nostrils are located on top of the skull as opposed to the end like most animals. This is like what we see on a dolphin or a whale." He saw a woman's dark form cock its head. "Like a shemubin, Kida."  
  
"So since when did you become a dinosaur expert?" droned Packard, unimpressed.  
  
"Well, I'm not really. I've been doing some studies. However, you remember when Mr. Whitmore wanted to meet with me alone just after we left Atlantis? He had someone there who was an assistant to Barnum Brown, one of the leading paleontologists. Supposedly, Barnum Brown's found an extraordinary dig site in Alberta, Canada, Red Deer River Valley region. The assistant trusted me with some of the secrets Brown's, well, literally unearthed there."  
  
"Oh! Weell we be deeging up bones, too? When weell we be deeging?"  
  
There was a small surge of laughter that answered Mole's question.  
  
"Ey, uh, exactly what has ah Brown found that you can tell us?"  
  
"He's found a lot recently, in particular, but you might know him best from a species he's found seven years ago."  
  
With the clumsy clinking of glass a new illustration appeared on the screen. A fearsome reptile with massive talons and a gigantic, saw-toothed maw seemed to look outward ravenously.  
  
"You probably all know about Tyrannosaurus rex. He's also found or helped find creatures like triceratops." The slide changed to depict a parrot-faced beast with three bull-like horns.  
  
"Where does usually one find such animals? I know wh--"  
  
"They all became extinct millions of years ago, Kida," he said, cutting her off, "but maybe, just maybe, we may find a species that hasn't died out. That species is Mokele-Mbembe. There are also other myths, for instance, that seem about as unlikely. One is a myth about a 130-200 foot snake called Nguma-Momele. Most likely this one is more myth, since no snake species grows even close to that large, not even in prehistoric times. Someone must have seen a python in the water and panicked. Of course, you never know." Milo smiled dreamily.  
  
"Now," he continued, "there was an 'official' sighting of Mokele-Mbembe by a man called Captain von Stein zu Lausnitz only two years ago. He said that it was too dangerous to use a canoe because the creature would attack. Even hippopotami were killed. My guess is this is a very territorial animal. Additionally, it was reported to be a vegetarian. The men that perished for the sake of discovery weren't eaten." The well-learned man spoke quite reverently of those who risked their lives, not for money, but for knowledge. "This animal being a herbivore fits the description of a sauropod, too. Now, if you could. just. turn your attention. to this. map." He struggled with a very large atlas. "We'll be. Ah!" Finally setting it down on a desk angled so all could see, he breathed in relief. "We'll be landing here, on the coast of Africa. From there we'll go by car to the Congo, specifically the Likoualu region." The man walked the distance on the map with his angular fingers. "Now, we'll use the cars to get there, and those only. Just to remind you al, the Atlantean vehicles we're bringing are only o be used in case of emergency. Back with the first encounter with the kraken they would have been more useful. That's why we're bringing them now, but we'll have to keep them in the trailer, obviously. Sorry if I'm just stating the obvious."  
  
"It's all right," Garret stated.  
  
"Don't ah worry about it."  
  
"Thanks. Okay, when we reach the--"  
  
Uncaring about any discussion, another whistle reached even the lowest decks, interrupting Milo.  
  
"Um, never mind," the scholar said. "We're here."  
  
. . .  
  
A drop of sweat rolled off of Milo's brow and onto his glasses, blinding him. While trying to ward off some insects he removed his eyewear to clean them on his shirt. The humidity in the area was almost deadly. The scholar looked forward to the dryer climate they would travel through for a short time. He followed the others into the blissful shade of a building, wiping his head with his forearm.  
  
The cozy dimness of the place was not so dark as to leave one blind. Several lamps flickered within. Within seconds his eyes adapted. Everyone was stripped to his or her coolest clothes. While his wife wore her very informal Atlantean street clothes, he and the others wore the same garb they had traversed the great city in on their first day. Like Kida, Milo used his spear as a walking stick. All who entered the structure, regardless of race, clothes or otherwise were thankful for the haven from the flies.  
  
The linguist approached the front desk and peered around. "Hello? Anyone there?"  
  
A man with the skin tone of dark tree bark appeared. His height, however, was closer to that of a tree stump. "Ah! Hello my friends!" he greeted them all amicably, motioning with fleshy arms. "What can I do for you?"  
  
"We've been sent by Whitmore Industries. We'll be needing a tour guide or two."  
  
"Well, I'll check my list here and--" He stopped and stood, finally taking note of the bizarre woman who stood nearby. Milo knew the storekeeper could not help it, for her clothes and cloud-white hair, not to mention the cerulean tattoos, were not something one would commonly see. The spears both he and his wife were carrying were undoubtedly seen as quite odd as well.  
  
"We're tourists, basically," Milo explained.  
  
The African looked to the various crewmembers. "I assume some of you are from America?"  
  
"Yeah--"  
  
"That would explain much," interrupted the shopkeep as he looked back to Kida. He moved some merchandise to get to a folder and examine its contents. As he did so, Milo heard him mutter, "Americans. They are stranger every year.." It was a moment or so before he spoke again. "Ah, here you are. I have paired you with. Ah, they are in the back, now. I'll get them." He left the group in silence, waddling back through a doorway. After some garbled discussion, he brought two men, one with chocolate and one with cream skin, with him.  
  
"This man," he started in his thick accent and gesturing toward the darker guide, "is Mr. Duma. He's your savannah an animal expert." The short person then motioned to the other man, who was taller but not as lean. "And this is your jungle expert, Mr. Neil."  
  
The explorers all voiced their hellos and the guides returned them as politely and happily as one would say, "you're welcome."  
  
Milo shook the mans' hands. "Mr. Duma? Interesting name. Means, 'cheetah,' right?"  
  
"Sure does," boomed the man casually, yet proudly. He opened his mouth to continue, but was stopped before he could exhale a single comment.  
  
"What is a 'CHEE-tah?" The guides and shopkeeper gawked at Kida's question. Or is that another pronunciation of 'CHEE-tuhr?'" She cocked her head.  
  
The vendor commented immediately. "All right. Now I know you are American."  
  
"We'll have to show you animals along the way, even though that's not what you were looking for." Neil looked to Milo. ".Right?"  
  
"Right," Milo confirmed. He noted Kida's face glowed with anticipation, and he could not help but smile at her. "We need to -- hey! Who turned out the lights?"  
  
The dimness in the room thickened, leaving the rare open window as the only source of light. Vague outlines were the only features that separated person from wares.  
  
"Jim!" the peddler roared. "You fool! You let the generator die again!" A shuffling sound was stopped by a horrendous crash.  
  
A multitude of voices arose, asking if the man was injured.  
  
"No, I'm fine." growled the hearty voice. A shambling and clanging duet indicated he was rising from the ground. "Go ahead and take Duma and Neil to your vehicles. I have a little discussing I must do." Footsteps clanked away.  
  
"Well, at least we can find the door out without killing ourselves, Milo remarked, thumbing ineffectually toward a sliver of light. Momentarily the glow was obscured as a youthful form appeared against the burning light of the outdoors, causing Milo to squint in discomfort. "Thanks Audrey." The raging radiance instantly caused the room temperature to rise.  
  
The group walked out, all shading their eyes and instantly perspiring in the boiling air, as a distant shouting met their ears.  
  
"We have to cross some savannah and jungle to even reach the Congo from here. Now, shall we find your myth?" asked the dark guide. It was clear their escorts had gotten the telegrams sent out.  
  
Milo nodded with an enthusiastic, appreciative grin.  
  
. . .  
  
"So why are we doing this again?" There was no response. "!Hola! !El mundo a Milo!"  
  
"W-what?" Some notes were nearly lost as the polyglot jumped.  
  
"I've been talking to you for maybe a minute now. You never close the books, do you?" The Latino had to speak loudly over the engine and Packard's gossip.  
  
Milo chuckled at Audrey. "No, I guess not. Just trying to prepare myself for what we might find."  
  
"Why are we doing this?" tried the mechanic again as she braced herself. The truck did not handle the terrain well, and hauling a gigantic trailer worsened things. "How does looking for a dinosaur help you guys improve Atlantis's culture?"  
  
"Many cultures base themselves off of animals. Look at Native Americans, or even Atlantis itself. Now, Mokele-Mbembe is pretty new as far as myths go -- only about, oh, 200 years -- but the thing is we can see how an animal, whether it's just a big snake or a real dinosaur, might affect a culture. No one worships the creature, but it does affect the cultures in the area. The tribes now habitually avoid fishing, swimming, or canoeing in the river where it's supposed to live because they're attacked. Now considering the age of the story, there might be a small population of the creatures there. Just think, in a century or so more, their culture might change entirely, making stories about it and all."  
  
"Milo? What are we doing? You said they were attacked? Doesn't that make this dangerous?"  
  
"Going under the sea in a new piece of technology is risky, too."  
  
"Good point."  
  
"Anyway, if we can see where this myth comes from, we could see how it affects culture. Hey, even if it is just a normal animal, or a rock formation, whatever, we'll still see how nature can affect a society. Think of what would change if, say, Atlantis's ecosystem was different, somehow."  
  
"Yeah, I get it." Annoyance was expressed as the scholar began to ramble.  
  
"Sorry. Guess I got. a little carried away."  
  
A great jolt hurled Garret and Vinny against the mechanic.  
  
"Hey, you watch it!" she growled.  
  
"I'm sorry," said Garret solemnly, yet sincerely. He moved back to his small seat and returned to staring back at the truck bed, a habit he had acquired since his loss.  
  
"Excuse me, but don't get mad for ah not bein' able to fix the other truck." Vinny spoke smoothly, slowly motioning with whole hands and with typically half-closed eyes.  
  
"The piston estupido blew out! It damaged most of the rest of the engine, and I didn't have enough spare parts!" The scowl continued over Packard's continued monotone.  
  
"No one's ah blamin' you. We all know you're disappointed."  
  
"Oh, shut up! Now we're all stuck riding in one truck and carrying our gear, or else you're sitting on top of the trailer." She thrust a thumb to point, the motion in itself conveying her irritation at being unable to fix the catastrophic failure of the other car. The digit indicated Kida, Sweet, and Mole, all of whom either had a low enough center of gravity or enough coordination to stay on fairly well.  
  
Milo silently wished he could have Kida sitting beside him, or, better yet, he had acquired enough coordination to be up with her. There was little doubt, even with the insulation of a tarp over the metal surface, the trailer must still be scorching, judging by the sweat rolling past their eyes. The king noted whenever a droplet caressed a celestial tattoo upon his queen's cheek, it appeared as some hopeless, loving tear of a person having lost his or her spouse. Her hair shined with a pure radiance in the wavering air. The face, haloed by the sun suddenly looked to him as displayed a blissful smile. He had unconsciously been grinning to her, but her gaze caused, in the landscape of his face, for a canyon to widen, ivory walls suddenly appearing.  
  
The stopping of the vehicle suddenly had everyone's attention.  
  
"Now what?" groaned Audrey.  
  
The light hand of one of the tour guides pointed to a sinuous, slinking form in the distance.  
  
"What is it?" whispered Kida, who had slid to the side closest to Milo.  
  
The scholar stood and quietly replied, "Cheetah."  
  
Everyone was silent, save for the chatty Packard, as the animal approached. At about fifty yards away the feline paused, looking curiously in the direction of the explorers. It sat down on its haunches while inspecting them, its tail twitching amusedly like some spotted and striped tail of an inquisitive monkey.  
  
"So what did you say, Marge?" Packard's voice droned as usual.  
  
The hunter's eyes passed from one item or face to another, as if passing a bizarre judgment, some enigmatic evaluation.  
  
"Marge."  
  
The swift bringer of death shut its eyes in the heat, as if in deep thought.  
  
"Marge." A hind limb scratched a shoulder blade, spotted with the color of blackened blood, with poise.  
  
"Marge."  
  
There was a trill of some exotic bird.  
  
"Who is this?"  
  
The call forced the eyes of the magnificent beast open, its sight set on Milo.  
  
"I thought you weren't coming back. What's wrong with her?"  
  
Bored with the game, the cheetah yawned like a roar, picked itself up with great dignity and slid away into the tall savannah grass.  
  
"Uh, huh. I'll be there." A click sounded with the passing of the cheetah's presence.  
  
"Who was that?" Vinny was the first to speak.  
  
"Marge's husband, Harold. I need to go back."  
  
"Why?" boomed Duma, the driver.  
  
"Marge just had a heart attack, he sez. Doesn't know if she'll live." The communicator spoke as if t were an everyday occurrence.  
  
"My gosh!" Milo exclaimed. He thought quickly. "Duma? Neil? Could you please leave us alone for a moment?"  
  
Neil's chiseled features appeared. "Why? We need to know what we're doin' here, too."  
  
"Please, just do it."  
  
Reluctantly and bewildered the guides agreed and removed themselves from the front seats, walking a small distance away.  
  
"Okay, what are we going to do?" He pushed up his glasses.  
  
"Guess we'll head on back, Fellers."  
  
"Cookie, we've gone too far," came Audrey. "Just the addition of the gear and ourselves on top of the heat is putting a lot of stain on the engine. I don't know how long it will last if we turn back."  
  
"We weel send her back on an Atlantean vehicle." The geologist patted the top of the trailer.  
  
"We can't," began Milo. "This may be an emergency, but even at those speeds it would take her a long tome to get there. Couple of days, maybe, non-stop?" He looked to Packard. "You've never flown one of these, have you?"  
  
"No."  
  
"She could ah take it back to the outpost."  
  
"It would attract too much attention, plus, as said, she's never flown one," Milo commented.  
  
"Maybe we could ah take the vehicles and continue onward."  
  
"That might frighten the animals we are searching for," voiced Kida concernedly.  
  
"And the truck isn't?" Audrey crossed her arms.  
  
"One vehicle would not be as intimidating as eight would be."  
  
"Guess that leaves only one alternative."  
  
"Yes, Sweet." The bookish man dreaded what he was about to say. "One of the guides will take Packard in the truck -- with the trailer - to the outpost and drop her off. It's not far to the dock from there. A guide'll then return with the truck and trailer to meet up with us at a further point. Meanwhile, we'll travel a little further by foot."  
  
A remorseful voice broke the brief, ensuing silence.  
  
"Someone's going to need to escort her to the port and on the way to Marge's."  
  
"Good idea. But are you suggesting you should go back to America, Garret?" inquired Milo.  
  
The twenty-one year old nodded solemnly.  
  
"Okay." Milo shouted in the direction of the guides. "Neil! Duma!" He waved them back.  
  
"So what are we doing?" asked Duma.  
  
"This, well, may seem pretty strange, but. One of you needs to drive Packard and Garret back to the dock, and then come back with the truck and trailer."  
  
"What?!" exclaimed both of them.  
  
"Are you sure? We're not leaving you alone out here!"  
  
"No. One of you will stay with us. Duma? You're our animal expert, right? We'll need you when we're by ourselves."  
  
The soil-colored man sighed. "I don't think this is a good idea."  
  
"We've discussed our options."  
  
"All right. But you'll need supplies." The guides, as if they were controlled by the same wind, simultaneously moved to the truck's overloaded bed of supplies and acquired backpacks, provisions, and tools, to name a few.  
  
"Neil?" asked one guide to another. "We'll meet you. here." He pointed to a site on a map he procured. "Gazelle Grove. We might get there by the time you're ready to pick us up. Send a flare when you're near the area."  
  
"Gazelle Grove would be a good place to get fresh water and fruit, if need be. Good idea."  
  
Duma handed a backpack to first Mole, Then to Vinny before handing one to Milo. The linguist almost fell with the weight of the cumbersome load, but he finally succeeded in balancing himself.  
  
And so the group readied for the long trek ahead into the heaviness of the scalding air.  
  
  
  
  
  
Based off the Disney Picture "Atlantis: the Lost Empire." The name "Atlantis: Revelation," "armags," "kriperlok," and the characters Temlohn, Duma and Neil are my (Rebmakash's) property. The characters, "MUH-suh MIH-kee" and Khohbdesheh are my property, and I acknowledge I do not own the names. Fan fiction storyline also my property. Milo Thatch, Kidagakash, Puknohl, Wandehm and other characters, names, concepts, and all Atlantean in this story are property of the Walt Disney Company. I also recognize certain lines (such as "Salt, salt, and sodium chloride") are also property of the Disney Company. 


	3. CHAPTER 3: Among the Titans

CHAPTER 3: Among the Titans  
  
The cloudless evening sky quivered warily in the heat. The coming dusk was not taking the burden of the heat off the exhausted air. The sun itself wobbled a distance above the sanguine horizon. No wind came to the aid of the tired travelers crossing the landscape, leaving flies to frustrate them.  
  
Milo wiped the sweat from his brow. Like everyone else he was half-soaked in it, and what clothing was dry was stiff and dusty. No one dared to spend the energy to talk. Such action might have been too much for a body to bear. The scholar leaned on his spear, thankful for its aid in travel. Long ago he had given up trying to ward off the insects, finding it was a futile matter. On either side of the groups tall grass stood, lifeless without wind. They continued down the heat-broken path, the brittle ground crunching under their weight.  
  
The linguist suddenly felt as if he had gone deaf. Save for the shuffling and crunching of his companions, the world was hushed. No distant animal call, no bird song, no insect buzz met his ears. He paused, and then looked to everyone else. Many of the explorers were looking to Kida, who had somehow frozen, despite the heat. Her cool blue eyes slid back and forth, searching. Her shoulders rose with deep, rapid, yet silent breath. Her mannerisms in themselves called for the hush of the entire band as a whole.  
  
A whisper from Audrey ended the quiet. "What is it?"  
  
A moment passed. "We are being--"  
  
"Hunted," Milo finished for her, recognizing her tone.  
  
There was a click, sharp and menacing. Duma had cocked his gun. "Probably lionesses. The pride around here has faced some had times. We shouldn't have taken this trail. Not at this time. It's getting to be the dry season. They might not be easily deterred. Even with the jungle nearby." Shotgun against his shoulder, he scanned the grass.  
  
A soft rustle caused the rifle to fire with an ear-splitting crack, shattering the silence.  
  
The grass began to flutter in clusters around them, unafraid of the prospect of death.  
  
"There must ah be ah dozen of them!" came Vinny.  
  
Duma reloaded his gun. "They didn't scare! There's no way I will shoot them all--"  
  
"There are too many to fight!" Kida's spear was aimed at a growth of leaves that had twitched.  
  
"This is jest like the Dakotas. Don't run. It'll makem come after ya, huntin' instinct and all."  
  
"Yeah, Cookie, but they are hunting us," Milo said urgently.  
  
"Oh, yeah."  
  
There was a moment's hesitation before anyone broke into a run.  
  
The chase was on.  
  
"Milo! Use your spear!" cried a bounding Kida. He followed her order, surprised at how much speed he gained, despite his awkwardness. The king had never used it for flight, but only in practice.  
  
Whether wind was present or not, the air rushing around the bodies of the prey created it. Packs full of survival tools were discarded as a dangerous hindrance. Milo caught sight of Sweet snatching up Mole and Cookie, placing the struggling men under his giant arms, and dashing as fast as his legs enabled down the earthen trail.  
  
A lioness bust from the grass beside them, claws and fangs gleaming crimson in the nearing sunset.  
  
"Sweet! Look out!" Unthinkingly, Milo slammed the club end of his spear down on the big cat's head, stunning it. The realization of the unconscious maneuver surprised Milo, but sheer adrenaline would not permit him to gawk. For a moment he thought he heard thunder.  
  
A stab of pain in his calf alerted Milo to the lioness behind him. He had been slashed. A crunching, bludgeoning noise, accompanied by a roar, emitted from behind the linguist.  
  
"Hurry!" ordered a husky, female voice.  
  
The tall blades parted, revealing short-grassed savannah, spotted with boulders and bushes. Now the predators could not so easily hide, but they could now dart even faster.  
  
A gunshot indicated Duma had lessened the pride's members.  
  
Great noises boomed from the serrated line of jungle up ahead.  
  
Two lionesses revealed themselves before the explorers, looking to the sounds. Instantly they turned, ears pointed backwards, speeding in the direction of the explorers.  
  
"Ambush!" someone shouted.  
  
There was no place to run, no way of protecting themselves. Everyone halted, taking up defensive postures. Milo rushed to Kida, shielding her despite the woman's silent protest. "At least she'll be safe!" his mind raced. His own safety did not matter to him in comparison to his wife's well being.  
  
The only sensation was a rush of wind buffeting his skin.  
  
Slowly Milo dared to look up. No predator was in his vision. The thunder was closer now, crashing and banging echoing over the land. He pivoted, releasing his wife. Other looked on as well, seeing the lionesses fleeing back to the haven of the grass spines. The wind stirred, tugging at the linguist's hair, as he turned, awe-struck, at the arrival of something greater.  
  
From the jungle exploded two gigantic beasts, one clearly an offspring of the other. They were facing the bewildered explorers, moving with surprising speed despite their size. Even the young one was as enormous as an elephant. Bathed in Crimson, their short, vaguely iridescent sails along their sinuous necks flashed as red as the sun. Blades of bone shone from their muscular tails. While in their presence, one could feel their very lungs vibrate.  
  
"Milo stood, wide-eyed at the wonder. As they approached at full speed he could not help but think almost in disbelief that he was truly seeing mammoths of the past. "Real dinosaurs! Different form the books, but incredible--" he thought as he saw a giant clawed foot loomed over his head, creating in itself an eclipse.  
  
"Holy--Wow!" the linguist shouted, narrowly evading through a leap. The greater beast, silhouetted, emitted a bellow that made him stagger.  
  
Several booms behind them told the crew why the creatures had been running. Two worn cars leapt from the forest like jaguars, the men riding shooting elephant guns.  
  
"Poachers!" hissed Duma. "I don't know what those. animals. are, but they will be hurting no animals today!" He fired his shotgun, a tire exploding from a car. Shouts of surprise filled the air as the driver struggled and succeeded to get the vehicle under control. The men were clearly determined to claim their prize, hindered or not. The car roared past, disregarding the onlookers.  
  
Bullets sang through the air, the parent creature bellowing again, this time from wounds to the neck. Again bullets whistled, one grazing the baby. The young animal opened its mouth to silence, yet Milo thought he could feel his ribs chatter. The cry was infrasonic, too low to be heard. The adult looked to the child, then turned with an almighty roar. A ruby crest rose from its long head as it faced its aggressors and hissed a warning. It stepped in front of its offspring, tail ready to strike.  
  
The poachers approached, despite the peril. They passed, painfully imbedding a few more bullets into the adult's thick flesh. Black blood began to drip from the injuries. The tail swung mightily, but missed its target by mere inches. The men laughed mockingly at the beast, then turned for another pass. Duma's shot rang with theirs, each gunshot true to aim. As another tire was torn from the same car, the animal roared once more in agony. The vehicle spun to a squealing stop.  
  
The beast stepped forward, and with a single powerful swipe it launched the vehicle into the air, frightened shouts piercing Milo's ears. The car crashed, inverted. Nothing moved from it. The linguist darted his eyes to the other vehicle, catching sight of aghast faces. The behemoth limped to he upturned car and rose on hind limbs. It hovered over the rusted object like a self-proclaimed god before coming down, great feet smashing the vehicle with a thundering blow. The creature turned and roared with intimidating strength, it's crest shaking.  
  
After a call the remaining car turned and fled. The adult snorted and began to lumber back to its child, only to falter, falling on its stomach and causing the ground to rumble.  
  
"NO!" Milo heard his exclamation echoed by others. The lesser beast went to the greater, the world vibrating again with mournful cries of nothing. It nuzzled its parent desperately.  
  
"Sweet! See if you can help it!" Milo called.  
  
"I'm on it!" They both knew the physician was no vet, and certainly no doctor had ever treated a patient such as this.  
  
"Kida, what are you doing?!" The king saw his queen bound past, heading to the creatures. She did not respond, fully concentrating on the moment. Kida caught up with Sweet as he arrived at the injured behemoth. They both picked blood-blackened bullets from the creature's neck. Kida removed her blue crystal, as did the physician, and began to heal the wounds, the glow a direct contrast to the fading light of day. When the injuries had stopped bleeding, they both paused, realizing how much effort had been undertaken. Their hands, as well as their crystals, looked as if they were covered in tar.  
  
"Weel eet survive?" Mole asked what everyone wanted to know.  
  
"I--"  
  
Kida interrupted Sweet. "Yes, but it is exhausted. It will also take time for the wounds to fully heal, but we can continue that after some rest." Smiling, she stooped to wipe her sticky hands on the meager grass. "The young one does not appear badly hurt, judging from its actions." The huntress stood again and motioned. The two were nuzzling each other as only a parent and child could. The older slowly rolled on its side, allowing it to breathe easier, and the offspring mimicked its parent. Vibrations filled the air as they cuddled.  
  
"Kida, I don't mean to be rude, but, uh, how would you know if a dinosaur's okay or not?" Milo looked at her, incredulous.  
  
"I would not. These are not. dinosaurs, or I very much doubt they are."  
  
"What? What are you talking about?"  
  
Kida's grin broadened even further as she crossed her now dusty arms. "These are not dinosaurs," the woman repeated. "They are armags."  
  
  
  
  
  
Based off the Disney Picture "Atlantis: the Lost Empire." The name "Atlantis: Revelation," "armags," "kriperlok," and the characters Temlohn, Duma and Neil are my (Rebmakash's) property. The characters, "MUH-suh MIH-kee" and Khohbdesheh are my property, and I acknowledge I do not own the names. Fan fiction storyline also my property. Milo Thatch, Kidagakash, Puknohl, Wandehm and other characters, names, concepts, and all Atlantean in this story are property of the Walt Disney Company. I also recognize certain lines (such as "Salt, salt, and sodium chloride") are also property of the Disney Company. 


	4. CHAPTER 4: Life Under the Skin

CHAPTER 4: Life Under the Skin  
  
"Armags?!" exclaimed Milo.  
  
"What?" Sweet sounded.  
  
"These here critters are what?"  
  
"Will somebody ah tell us what's happenin'?"  
  
"They are animals from around our city."  
  
"How eez eet they ended up here? They are too beeg to go unnoteeced."  
  
"Well, they had been from the African myths," began Milo, "but is there a population down here, or do they live a long time." He looked to Kida.  
  
"We do not know how long they live. They are normally reclusive, living away from the hunting grounds."  
  
"How long do other creatures live?" Audrey pulled the wrench from a loop in her overalls for no apparent reason.  
  
"It varies. Yeragos live 300 years when they live in captivity. They are the typically green winged creatures you have seen. MUH-suh MIH-kee is a yeragos. Bahodmok live a few thousand years when they are used as pets."  
  
"Is that from being closer to the Crystal, Kida?" The linguist bent down while removing his pendant, carefully healing the wounds in his leg with a grimace.  
  
"I do not know, but perhaps that is so. We are aware they do not live nearly as long in the caves."  
  
"Then there must be a population down here," started Sweet. "But as Mole said, how'd they get here?"  
  
"Myth says they lived in caves in the swamp. Those caves. Jiminy Christmas! A path to Atlantis!" Everyone's eyes widened.  
  
The young armag nudged its sleeping mother playfully, but she did not wake. After a second attempt, it gave up, approaching the explorers. The elephant-sized creature twisted its neck downward to investigate the tiny creatures. Every person shifted, not quite sure how to react. Milo saw the child flare its nostrils for an investigative sniff toward Mole, then tossed and shook its head back with a snort. It randomly began to smell the others with lighthearted curiosity.  
  
"I'm very confused. What do you mean 'Atlantis?'" Duma motioned a dark hand in such a way as to demand an explanation as the armag eyed him.  
  
"Well, uh." The crew, especially Milo, had forgotten the guide was even there. "Look, explanations later. We've gotta get these things back to the swamp."  
  
Duma crossed his arms, annoyed. "Yes? And how do we all plan to do this?"  
  
"I don't know." Milo lamented. "We've gotta get our gear."  
  
"It's in the tall grass. The lionesses are still there."  
  
Sweet responded to the guide. "Well, so's our food, water, medical supplies."  
  
"Take your gun, Duma, and follow me. Sweet, we need help carrying things. We'll need to camp for the night. Find--" A gigantic snout was thrust in his face, a small wind coming from the creature's odiferous breath. From it's mouth erupted a great gray slug, the slimy thing wiping itself over Milo's front. "Aaaahh!" The lingust was sopping wet with the beast's saliva. "Great." He heard a few chuckles around him. "Well. We'd better get going. Get some sticks to build a fire. We'll need it to keep the animals away."  
  
"Allow me to come. I can help protect all of you."  
  
"No, Kida. Stay here in case something else attacks."  
  
"Why would anything do so with armags around?"  
  
"Stay. Just stay." Milo wanted to make sure nothing happened to her, especially when there could be fewer people at risk.  
  
The queen sighed, crossing her arms, a little annoyed. "Very well."  
  
The king wiped a glob of spit from his shirt. As he paced towards the sun- burnt blades, he felt a steady rhythm in the ground. With Duma and Sweet he turned, seeing the smaller armag behind them. They paused for a moment, Milo feeling a low reverberation in his chest. Experimentally, he took a step back, the creature imitating his movements.  
  
"Well, maybe we won't need the gun," the doctor voiced.  
  
Milo nodded, taking a few more steps, the beast following. Slowly they all edged into the towering grass, making sure the inquisitive creature followed.  
  
The gear finally revealed itself. "Any signs of the lions?" whispered Sweet.  
  
"No," breathed Duma. His finger was tensed over the trigger.  
  
The group neared as the creature rumbled infrasonically. Cautiously they procured their packs.  
  
"Oh, no."  
  
"What Sweet?"  
  
"Well, these were the food packs. Somethin's gotten to 'em. We might have a quarter of what we had."  
  
"Great. Um."  
  
"What?" The doctor grabbed his medical bag.  
  
"There's no way we can carry it all, either."  
  
"Yes. We'll make two or more trips."  
  
"No," came Duma as he approached the armag. "Steady, boy. Steady." He went to the creature's tail, which swayed slightly from whim. "Hold still." The creature craned its sinuous neck to watch, stopping it's tail. With the utmost care Duma hung a pack by its straps on one of the beast's deadly blade-like spikes, undoubtedly praying the animal would not twitch. The child looked amusedly at its new adornment. All breathed a notable sigh of relief Duma stepped away, untouched.  
  
"Hang them on the armag? Duma, you have one incredible backbone." Milo went for more bags to place on the creature's muscular tail. "Nice thinking!"  
  
The man made a short, subtle bow. Caring as much as they could, risking as little as possible the threat of the armag taking off one of their heads, they returned.  
  
"It's ah good to see you all in one piece," commented Vinny.  
  
"PAH-geh-sheh-nekh NEE-shen-toap AHD-lun-tih-suhg! MAHN-seh-nekh!" (Thank you, Spirits of Atlantis! You are all fine!) The huntress dropped the old wood on the pile and put her hands over her crystal. She walked to her husband and embraced him, sighing in relief. He lovingly hugged her back.  
  
"C'mon. We need to finish breaking camp." He unrolled a sleeping bag next to his wife's. Preparations were taken and within a few minutes a camp was made next to the creatures. A small fire, though adding a greater load of heat to the air, created a comforting ring of protection. As the weary, quivering sun finally collapsed past the horizon, Milo laid back with hands behind his head, looking up musingly as the stars were blown onto the darkening dome of the sky by a mild wind.  
  
"What is the phrase your people use?"  
  
"What?" The linguist looked over to Kida, who laid curled on her sleeping bag. "What phrase?"  
  
"'.Kurhuana. for your thoughts?'"  
  
"Penny."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"I was just thinkin'... We just can't keep calling them 'its' or 'armags.'"  
  
"Why can we not?" The queen sat up a little.  
  
"Well, it's just a little awkward, and how do we differentiate between the guys?"  
  
"They are females."  
  
"They're both females?" Milo paused, a little astonished. "How can you tell? Or." he ended uneasily.  
  
A hand, painted orange in the firelight, pointed to the creature's necks. "Do you see the two rows of spikes connected by skin?"  
  
He nodded.  
  
"Males have one row of spikes on top of their necks."  
  
"Well, I guess that solves it then."  
  
"It solves what?"  
  
"What we'll call them. Did you notice how large the mother is? Notice her size? The length? She's the length of Nguma-monele. Maybe she's that myth, since she does have a snake-like head and neck. That would make Nguma-monele and Mokele-mbembe the same species. I mean, the little one's the size of Mokele-mbembe, and they're both female."  
  
"What do you plan to name them?"  
  
The king yawned, the heat and earlier exertion making him drowsy. "The mother's Nguma-monele. 'Ma' for short. The kid's Mokele-mbembe. 'Kelly' for short."  
  
"Those are interesting names. They sound exotic."  
  
Milo chuckled. "Not to me. 'Ma' is actually a title, really. It's short for 'mother.'" He trailed off, sleep overtaking him.  
  
"I understand." Through blurred vision he saw her curl up again. Milo looked back to the newly named beasts, wondering if he were already dreaming. There seemed to be a glow upon them, dimming as his lids tucked his eyes in for sleep.  
  
. . .  
  
  
  
A strange, disquieting dream broke with the lifting of eyelids. Sleep pulled them shut again as Milo sighed in relief. The first thing the scholar noticed was a rustling sound, like soft pressure on grass with the creaking insects. Hazily he opened his eyes again, moving nothing else. The night itself was moving with black ghosts, unrevealed by the lifeless fire. Slowly Milo propped himself on his elbow. The ebony creatures made a soft whine as they snooped in the bags.  
  
"Guys. Guys!" He whispered forcefully to everyone, carefully moving to nudge Kida.  
  
His wife bolted upright, eyes wide before he even touched her. Milo had never seen such a light sleeper. Others began to stir.  
  
However, the sudden movement of the queen alerted the apparitions. Azure light was all that could define their snarling features, canines faintly flashing as they growled.  
  
"Jackals." Duma's voice boomed even in whisper. "They feel threatened by us. Don't move too fast."  
  
"Sure, they're growling at us because they're scared." Audrey was nervously sarcastic.  
  
"Fight or flight. It's instinct." The guide's blue silhouette was still groping for his rifle. Milo decided he should grab his weapon as well, sure his wife had already done the same. He watched as Audrey took out a long-handled wrench.  
  
The wild dogs stalked toward them, pausing only a few feet away. A snort blasted from behind the explorers, and the hill behind them shifted. A colossal, snake-like head and neck craned over with an uninitiated manner. Its bulk was highlighted in blue. Nguma-monele's was barely a foot away from the canine ghost when it snarled like a locomotive. Another snort sent the predators flying, tails between their legs. The mother rumbled, seemingly in satisfaction, and laid her head down once again.  
  
"Um, does anyone else see what I see?"  
  
"What do 'ya mean, Milo?" Cookie asked. "That dogs have gone and run?"  
  
"No, look at Ma's skin." Milo pointed to the mountain of flesh.  
  
"'Ma?'" Vinny could be distinguished by the two dots that were his earrings.  
  
"Yeah, like NguMA-monele--"  
  
"Oh, jeez, he's named it." Milo knew Audrey must have been rolling her eyes  
  
"Just look at its skin. Actually, cover up your own crystals."  
  
Dubiously everyone did so, the serene light fading, but not gone.  
  
"Look! Patches of her skin! It's glowing!"  
  
"Yes." Kida's tone was unsurprised.  
  
"You knew they glowed?"  
  
"The caves are dark, Milo. Of course I would know. Why is this important? Other creatures glow."  
  
"Yeah, but things like fireflies don't glow blue!" Milo uncovered his crystal and stood, walking around the bulk of the giant to the child, wondering if she, too, radiated the same light. Crunching from behind told him the others followed. He looked in on Mokele-mbembe and approached, waving the others on. Her skin displayed the same dull glow as her mother, except for one shining cut on its shoulder from where a bullet grazed its hide. "Guys, look!" He motioned to the wound, which was amazingly half- healed. The scholar was answered by silence. "If I can just..." Milo reached upward, and gently grabbed for a small sliver of something in Kelly's wound. As he pulled it out, the creature jerked, a deep, unsteadying vibration filling the air as its head rose.  
  
Before Milo could react he felt a heavy impact from the side, his body tossed like a rag doll. He heard voices cry his name. Nguma-monele faced the linguist, who decided it best to lie still, despite the pain. The beast sniffed the air around him, nudging him hard enough to send him rolling. Using its chisel-shaped teeth the armag caught Milo by his tank top and lifted him into the air, dropping him with the rest of the explorers. He felt Kida and Sweet try and help him up.  
  
"Milo, are you all ri--"  
  
The Mother's head faced the scholar, and snorted reeking breath into his face, a stern warning. She turned back to Mokele-mbembe who was already back in deep slumber.  
  
"Ahhh! Yeah, I'm fine, Kida." He gritted his teeth as he clutched his side. "I think nothing's broken."  
  
"You don't sound fine. Let me look 'ya over," the doctor insisted.  
  
"Where's the shard?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Kida, there's a shard of--crystal, I think--that I pulled from Kelly's wound."  
  
"You named the little one 'Kelly?'"  
  
"Yeah," Milo answered, more concerned with where the shard was.  
  
Audrey sighed, and then joined the others for a quick search. The scholar pulled up the side of his tank top, allowing Sweet to examine discolored ribs. The black man's giant, nimble fingers searched his painful side, pressing rather firmly, much to Milo's anguish, searching for cracks and irregularities. After a loud breath, the physician finally spoke. "Well, you're right. Nothin' broken, but you're probably going to be painful for a while, or 'ya would be normally. Looks like it'd bruise pretty bad." He removed the crystal tie clip from his shirt collar. "Let's see how well we can fix 'ya up." Sweet ran the crystal smoothly over Milo's side, and then he grasped it until his hand glowed, making an odd face as he did so. Milo grimaced as the man pressed hard on his injury, a glowing handprint fading away. The scholar watched as Sweet waved his hand in the air as the light diminished from it. "Always feels so odd, doin' that. Almost tingles, doesn't it?"  
  
"Yeah, kinda." He rubbed his thin side, the pain lessening like an afterimage. "Hey, that's much better. Thanks."  
  
"No problem."  
  
"Milo! I theenk I found eet!" Moliére ran up, holding out a small gleaming sliver. "Eez thees eet? Eet was een the bushes."  
  
"Great! Thank you." He got up, taking the object from the geologist, next cupping his hand to call. "Mole found it! We got it!"  
  
As the others dashed up, the scholar examined the shard. "Definitely a crystal. It looks like these creatures have it imbedded--or even growing-- in their skin!"  
  
"That would ah explain why the wound, it ah looked somewhat healed."  
  
"And the age of the myth! These creatures live 200 years at least! There might not be a small population down here, but only these guys--err--girls. Kida, what do you th--" He looked over at her, her gaze set on the sleeping titans.  
  
She answered only after a thoughtful moment. "Yes?"  
  
"Well, what do you think?"  
  
"It would explain why I saw one survive a charokh attack."  
  
A loud yawn sounded behind them. "As important as this is, and as uninformed as I am." he growled slightly. ".You'll have to excuse me. I need to get some sleep."  
  
"Yeah, you're right." Audrey stretched a bit and started to head back to the comfort of her sleeping bag.  
  
"C'mon, Kida. Kida?" Milo saw she still stood musing. "Kida?"  
  
"Hmmm. What?"  
  
"Everyone's heading to bed."  
  
"All right." After a few seconds she turned. Milo watched as she curled up in her usual position.  
  
Milo laughed as he thought of something to say. "Penny for your thoughts?"  
  
She hummed a laugh. "It is nothing. Good night Milo." She gazed at the stars in typical wonder of them. "Moakh GAH-nesh-suhg-tihk."  
  
"I love you too." He smiled, then watched the light from the crystals vanish as he closed his eyes.  
  
  
  
  
  
Based off the Disney Picture "Atlantis: the Lost Empire." The name "Atlantis: Revelation," "armags," "kriperlok," and the characters Temlohn, Duma and Neil are my (Rebmakash's) property. The characters, "MUH-suh MIH-kee" and Khohbdesheh are my property, and I acknowledge I do not own the names. Fan fiction storyline also my property. Milo Thatch, Kidagakash, Puknohl, Wandehm and other characters, names, concepts, and all Atlantean in this story are property of the Walt Disney Company. I also recognize certain lines (such as "Salt, salt, and sodium chloride") are also property of the Disney Company. 


	5. CHAPTER 5: Escape to Below

CHAPTER 5: Escape to Below  
  
The first sensation that met Milo's consciousness was a dull red glow through his eyelids. He parted them leisurely as he yawned, still sluggish with sleep. The sunrise was beginning beautifully, a few wisps of pink clouds floated like foam on the wine-colored horizon. The temperature was, surprisingly, tolerable.  
  
"Kida!" he whispered. "Kida!" He knew the sky was an endless source of fascination to her. The linguist turned to see an empty sleeping bag and his satchel opened. He simply smiled and sighed, shaking his head slightly. As his friends snored or mumbled in their slumber, he rose as quietly as he could, checking the bag for the Shepherd's Journal. Myriad times they had spent together reading it to each other like children reading their favorite bedtime stories. To his astonishment it was still inside, untouched. Another book was missing instead. A laugh whispered through his nose. Milo knew she would try to read English on her own someday, and that day was literally dawning. The king procured a slip of paper and a pencil and wrote a note saying he would return shortly. After setting it on his sleeping bag he took up his spear and satchel and tiptoed off.  
  
As he reached a safe distance, the windless air vibrated with his voice as he called for his wife. "Kida!" The man walked under some sparse, water-starved trees. "Kida?"  
  
"I am over here!" Milo felt a soft tapping on his shoulder.  
  
"Where?!" He turned abruptly to see nothing but landscape. He saw nothing above him, either. There was a rustling around him and he felt his shoulder being rapped again.  
  
"Here!"  
  
"Kida.!" He heard her laugh as he reeled again to see no one. A small snap behind and above him triggered him to pivot again. The scholar was greeted with nothing but another touch to the shoulder and a giggle.  
  
Milo turned once more to see a flash of falling white hair and an inverted face. The queen, hanging upside-down by legs folded over a branch, crossed her arms and displayed an amused half-smile.  
  
"Good morning," she laughed playfully. The scent of dust hung in the air around her.  
  
"Morning, Kida."  
  
"We still must practice your skills more. Had I been a bahodmok you probably would not be speaking to me now." After making a playful, clawing gesticulation, she sat up on the branch.  
  
"Yeah. Gotta work on that." Milo glanced to the side, a little disappointed and embarrassed. "So. you got up early to read?" He smiled again.  
  
"No, I did not originally. I. thought if Cookie had a more nutritious ingredient. I was hunting." She motioned to the carcass in the tree.  
  
"Uh, oh. I doubt Duma's going to be too happy with you."  
  
"No, but he has not tried Cookie's food, either. Our rations are low as well. Would it have been different if I had been a." The warrior paused, searching the air above for a word. "Lioness?"  
  
"Yeah, good poi-- Wait! Is that a gazelle up there?!"  
  
"What is a gah-ZEHL?"  
  
The erudite man stepped toward the carcass amazed. "I think. Duma said that's a Thompson's Gazelle! Kida, how'd you catch one?! Those things are supposed to run 45. 55. miles an hour!"  
  
"I did not chase one. Last night I observed an animal hunting from a tree. It's coat and tail were like a cheetah's, but its body was more like a lioness--"  
  
"Must have been a leopard."  
  
"LEH-perd?"  
  
"Yes. Go on."  
  
"It did not have to chase prey. We hunt similarly, waiting, but not in this fashion. I did the same as the LEH-perd this morning. Gah-ZEHLs came to rest under the tree I was in. I attacked one that was lying down." She looked down and brushed herself off. "I had to bathe myself in dust first because the animals could detect my scent. There was no wind to take advantage of, nor did I have grikehb fur like on the masks to help hide it."  
  
"Ah, I was wondering about that. The dust I mean." Milo continued to look up at the dead animal, noting its side had been caved in by what must have been an impressive blow. Kida's spear, club end closest to him, balanced next to the body.  
  
"Milo?"  
  
"Yeah, Kida?" He directed his attention to climbing up the tree and sitting beside his wife after leaving his weapon at the base of the tree. "There is something strange about the armags, or at least the one we call, 'Ma.'" "What? Is that what you were thinking about last night?"  
  
"Yes. She is strangely aggressive."  
  
"You got that right."  
  
"Armags tend to be shy and attack only when cornered."  
  
"Then why do they have those spikes? Surely they're for self- protection."  
  
"They do act as armor, but primarily they are for harvesting kriperlok and for display. The spikes can help remove the plant like a tool."  
  
"Hmmm. Does this aggressiveness bother you?"  
  
"No,. except I fear 'Ma' may now abhor you, and you may be in danger." She paused, glancing away with worried lips pressed together. " .It may be good, otherwise. If 'Kelly' can learn this, the species may then survive better against charokh."  
  
".And that's why we need to get them back!"  
  
"Yes." She looked off to the sunrise, a lick of gold flame on the horizon. After a moment Kida hummed a laugh.  
  
"Oh?"  
  
"I had thought it an odd coincidence when I saw Gertie, I would later be doing this."  
  
"Gertie? Cookie's 'electric mule?'"  
  
"No!" She laughed again. "Do you remember a year ago when you took me to see a 'motion picture?' I am speaking of 'Gertie the Dinosaur.'"  
  
"Oh, of course. It is kinda ironic." He grinned to her. "So, uh, what book did you take? A History of Dinosaurs?"  
  
"I believe so." Kida leapt and bounded to several branches before obtaining the tome and returning. "Yes."  
  
Milo smiled, proud of her.  
  
"There are some words I do not entirely understand." The agile woman fingered through a few pages before finding a word. "Here it changes languages. It uses Greek and says 'ankylosaurus.' This means 'fused lizard.' Why do you name these creatures in another language? I have been meaning to ask you."  
  
Shrugging, the scholar replied, "Sorry. Dinosaurs aren't really my field of study. It must be for scientific identification."  
  
"And what is. this?" From the pages she acquired a loose piece of paper and unfolded it. On it was a sleek dinosaur, sketched in now half- smeared charcoal. I am partial to this one. What is it?"  
  
"Oh, um. you weren't supposed to see that yet, but I guess it couldn't do any harm. It's a new one. Found in 1914. Brown discovered it. It's called 'dromeosaurus.' The assistant described it to me to draw. They only have a partial skeleton, but just those claws on the feet make it impressive."  
  
"Yes. Thank you." Kida examined the drawing for a few seconds more before replacing it, a curious smile still on her face. The woman giggled as Milo ran a hand over his hair.  
  
"Well, you seem especially cheerful today."  
  
"I am sorry. I still find your hair unusual. It makes you very cute."  
  
Milo beamed half in love, half in typical enthusiasm. On several occasions she mentioned he had the hair of a 'newborn' Atlantean child, though those infants were considered newborn well into their thirties. He placed his hand over hers, looking down upon it. On both their left hands they wore the same silver and gold rings, each sporting a well-cut Atlantean crystal. Over the tendons of their hands stretched the same tattoo: two celestial streaks curved, pointing to the same point of unity between them. It was here two cultures had literally wed.  
  
He looked up to see Kida's gaze locked momentarily longer on their clasped hands before her eyes met his amorously. She sighed unconsciously in her love before finally handing him the book. The linguist silently slipped it into his satchel. When Milo glanced back he found his wife held both her ring and her bracelet in the palm of her hand. She removed her earring and placed it with them. He looked inquisitively at her.  
  
"They all mean something very special to me," Kida answered, admiring them.  
  
"I understand the bracelet, and I know all about the ring." He smiled in polite pride and saw her grin back. ".But what about the earring? I've always seen you wear it, but."  
  
The huntress hesitated for a moment, clearly thinking seriously of a time long passed. "My mother owned one just like this. This earring was the match for it. My father said as a child I loved them so much she gave one to me, and each of us wore one in the opposite ear. .We were like the earrings. We belonged to together as a family. After the Heart called my mother, Father always took a solemn comfort in my wearing it. He had often told me I reminded him of her."  
  
Milo put his arm around her as she looked down, musing solemnly of the gleaming objects that paled in comparison to the love they represented. After a moment she looked up into his soft brown eyes. He then displayed a comforting smile to his wife, which proved to have a benign contagiousness.  
  
"Kida.? Do you believe in fate?"  
  
".Yes. Why do you ask?"  
  
"I mean. do you believe we were destined for each other?"  
  
"For me to be destined to be married to you, Milo?" She smiled tenderly, eyes relaxed in contentment as she slid a little closer to the king. The branch swayed serenely with the movement. "We met under incredible circumstances. How could it not be fate?"  
  
Fondly he laughed. "I probably wouldn't find someone like you in a million lifetimes."  
  
"Whose lifetimes?"  
  
He again took up her hand in his. "Yours."  
  
They paused, admiring each other with loving smiles spread like wings over their faces. The bookish man gently stroked her cheek with the backs of his fingers.  
  
"It is as if I have known you for a very long time. Your presence seemed, even when we first met, vaguely familiar, like a dream I had forgotten long ago." She moved to one side slightly, peering around Milo. "Smoke."  
  
"What?" The lanky scholar turned his head to look. "Well, looks like Cookie's already up. Guess we're a little late."  
  
"They can wait a few moments more, then, can they not?"  
  
"Yeah." Milo looked at the sunrise, a molten orb floating above the endless horizon in a sea of red silk rippling in the coming heat of day. A few flamingos were the only ones who dared to approach the glory of the golden mercury, adding detail to the living sky. He turned back to Kida, who was radiant to him in the dawn's light. Her face had reddened in the glow, appearing as the blush from the perfect contentment of romance. The scholar once again met the sapphire eyes of his wife. The couple needed not to say a word.  
  
The queen's face leaned slightly, and had circumstance been different he would have thought her inquisitive of something. Milo turned his head as well as her countenance neared his. Their eyes closed slightly as they were bathed in wine. The feeling of Kida's breath upon his lips was warmer than the surrounding hot air, yet the sensation was more comforting than a fire on a frozen winter's night. As always he wondered if the taste of the kiss would be as sweet as the last. As one they breathed in, taking in the essence of the other. Their lips were a mere inch apart.  
  
A horn blared, violently tearing the king and queen away from each other.  
  
"What is--?"  
  
"Neil! No, don't honk the horn, don't honk the horn!" A familiar car and trailer was driving toward the rising smoke, toward the living hill behind it. "We've got to try and get his attention!"  
  
Kida snatched up her spear and leapt down silently, Milo landing with a grunt before grabbing his. The scholar watched his wife speed ahead of him, roaring the name of the guide. His voice had preceded hers, breathless, as he tried desperately to keep up. The vehicle simply shrank away, oblivious, and honked again as it neared.  
  
Milo felt a vibration in his chest, amazed at the distance at which he could feel it. To his horror he saw the hill move, rising to its feet to challenge the supposed threat of the car. The roar he heard was less noticeable than the continuing infrasonic call. The vehicle had swerved to a stop, as the titan approached. Nguma-monele turned to the side when Milo noticed a figure running from the vehicle. Various cries from the camp accompanied the yell of the tour guide. A great tail swung, bone spikes puncturing the metal hide of the car and flinging it and the trailer over. The machine lay dying on its back momentarily before dramatically languishing in an explosion nearly as bright as the sunrise. The blast tore open the trailer, making Atlantean vehicles fly without the use of crystals. One sizzled with blue plasma before its life ultimately ended in chaos as well.  
  
"Neil!" The fear gave Milo a tremendous burst of energy. He and Kida neared a crowd that surrounded an unmoving body. "Duma!" He shoved through to see the man, scraped and bruised, rise.  
  
"That's it!" Neil smiled, eyes wide. "I've gone insane. I'm nuts. That's what I get for driving all night. I'm seeing dinosaurs total my car, and think I've actually been hauling around exploding fish statues in that trailer. I've lost it. I'm--"  
  
"Snap out of it!" Audrey punched him hard in the shoulder, cap sliding. "You aren't crazy." She shook him.  
  
"C'mere. You're just in some emotional shock. Let me treat those cuts." Sweet opened his medical bag and took the crystal from his shirt collar.  
  
"I don't understand it either, Neil," came Duma, "but these people say we've got to get these things back home. Poachers were chasing it. They must've driven them out of the swamp. And. don't look when the doctor treats you. You'll find it very strange."  
  
"What? Why-- Owwww! Hey!" He snatched his arm away and glared at the doctor, agitated at the whole situation. He felt his arm and looked down in disbelief. "Hey, how'd you do that?"  
  
"Considerin' your other reactions, believe me, you don't wanna know."  
  
"Oh. Sorry, but. could you do that some more?"  
  
The giant man grinned. "No problem."  
  
"Thank heaven you're okay."  
  
"I suppose I've been worse than this, Milo. Physically, at least. But. Why didn't you tell us about any of this?!" Both guides glared at the linguist.  
  
"Well, uh. My gosh. All right. You can't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you. An entire civilization depends on it, okay?"  
  
"Milo, I do not--"  
  
"We have to tell them, Kida. It's not as if we can hide this anymore."  
  
She sighed, nodding in agreement.  
  
"We won't tell anyone. Just tell us what in the world is going on here!" Duma, frowning, nodded at Neil's words.  
  
Milo turned away for a moment, hands together with blunt fingers touching lips. "You've heard of Atlantis, right?"  
  
"What does that have to do with dinosaurs and exploding statues?" Neil growled as Sweet treated a gash in his red hair.  
  
"It's real. These things. The statues, these creatures, they're from it. Even these." He held up his pendant. "These crystals did too. One of these healed you, Neil."  
  
The light guide looked to the dark one, then to Audrey. "You sure I'm not crazy?" Audrey nodded, arms folded. "And let me guess. Sacagawea, here, is from Atlantis, too," he added sarcastically, motioning to the white- haired woman.  
  
"Yes," Kida answered mildly, "but that is not my name. It is Kidagakash."  
  
Duma hit his forehead with the palm of his head and moaned. "Anything else you want to tell us, 'Oh-my-gosh?'"  
  
"Kee-DAH-gah-kosh. Call me 'Kida.'" Milo saw her look to him as if to ask, "Can no one speak my name correctly?"  
  
"Okay, Kida, why do we have to take these guys back, and was it worth my car?"  
  
"The second answer would be 'yes.' And they are girls. As--"  
  
"I don't care about their genders."  
  
"As a guide you should," interrupted the scholar. "You see, Atlantis sank below ground level, and there's an entire ecosystem under there, these creatures, the armags, playing an important part. Right now a plant is literally growing out of control, and these things'll stop it. The problem is they're endangered, and we need these to help their population increase. Do you know of where the caves are in the swamp?"  
  
Neil thought for a moment. "There's a large cave I know of near the river."  
  
"Sounds like the spot," replied Milo.  
  
Vinny joined in. "But how are we ah gonna get 'em to there?"  
  
"I have an idea. All the vehicles are damaged, but some may still run. I think we all need a quick breakfast, first, but we need to check the vehicles."  
  
"Breakfast's on the fa'r. Be ready in no time."  
  
"Cookie, zee breakfast eez on fire."  
  
The cook ran to his food tossing dust on it to put the b;laze out. He returned, stirring the dusty, tar-like substance in the pot. "Don' 'tchew worry. It's salvageable. It'll take a while longer, but--"  
  
"Well, uh, Kida got a new ingredient for breakfast, if you want to work with that. Kida, will you get the--"  
  
"Yes." The voice came from behind him rather than beside him as he had expected. "As I believe you would say, 'Way ahead of you?'" The huntress was shouldering the heavy load of the carcass with some effort.  
  
"You-- You killed a gazelle!" Duma was in agitated shock. How dare you kill--"  
  
"Uh, Duma, come with me a second." Milo pulled the man aside.  
  
"Milo, she killed one of--"  
  
"Yes, I know, but look. It wasn't endangered. Seriously. We don't even know what was for breakfast before it was burned. We never know what his food was. He threw dirt into the food and he wants to salvage it. Now, would you want to survive to save an ecosystem or let one animal be killed to save it? He hasn't killed anyone yet, but."  
  
The guide blinked. "You never know what it was?"  
  
Milo shook his head.  
  
The African sighed, unwillingly admitting he'd eat the creature with a nod. He led them back, seeing a new fire had been started and the meat was already roasting in the flames. Before long they were having breakfast, their armag hosts nibbling on some nearby trees.  
  
"Strange," commented Kida after she took a bite.  
  
"What?" Audrey looked up from her meal, which was thankfully not quite as greasy as she was accustomed to on these expeditions.  
  
"It tastes like yeragos."  
  
The laughter briefly caught the attention of the armags.  
  
"Guess everyone has their chicken," Sweet guffawed.  
  
"What is CHIH-ken?"  
  
Milo chuckled. "It's a bird commonly eaten in the outer world. It seems like many things taste like it. In fact, some wemot recipes I've tried taste like chicken."  
  
The queen cocked her head, amused. The group finished after a few minutes more, and the king jogged to a vehicle, seeing his wife go to another. "Let's check them! C'mon! We're wasting time."  
  
"Milo, I don't think our crystals will work anymore." The Latino removed her chocker necklace, the crystal long ago re-cut.  
  
The doctor paced toward a Ketak. It did not look badly damaged. Hand on the panel, he tried to insert his crystal, succeeding only in making it fizz and sputter.  
  
"Some'r us can't do it t'all." Cookie pointed to his glowing tooth.  
  
The lean man heaved a sigh. "Ooookay. Wish I had thought of that before we left. That makes things more difficult." After running his fingers over his hair he tried a Martag, but it did not respond at all, tail having been shattered. The scholar then turned to Sweet's vehicle and successfully activated it. With a course hum, it hovered off the ground, shaking chaotically. He deactivated it hastefully. "I. don't this one's safe to drive."  
  
"Probably not," agreed the tall physician.  
  
"Milo!" He looked up toward Kida's voice. "There is nothing salvageable of the one immediately destroyed in the crash, but the other Ketak runs adequately."  
  
"Good. Let's try that one over there. Sweet? Could you help us turn it right-side-up, please?"  
  
"You got it." Together the they turned over the last vehicle. Its form was different than any Milo had ever seen before.  
  
"Kida, what is this? It looks like a dolphin."  
  
"I would not know if it a DOLL-fin, but a scroll I read called it a DOLL- tukh."  
  
"A Doltak, huh?" He inserted his crystal and the vehicle rose slowly, carvings beginning to glow. "Looks like it'll work. I think it'll seat two." The linguist motioned to the saddle-like indentations on its back. He straddled it and twisted his hand on the panel slightly, feeling a low hum in his chest as the vehicle turned. Milo laughed. As he had hoped, the little armag was trotting up to take a look as he move a little higher.  
  
"Yeah, interesting, isn't it, Kelly? Will you follow me?" The creature, to his unpleasant surprise, reached up and grabbed the vehicle's fluke in its jaws. "No, no! Let go!" He commanded the Doltak to rise higher until the creature finally released it. As a result, the vehicle jolted upward rapidly, almost throwing its rider. The scholar looked back, eyes widened, to see tooth marks in the stone. "Jiminy Christmas! You are just a baby, aren't you?" He dared to lower the vehicle, relieved when the beast did not decide to bite down on it again. Pressing a little firmer on the panel, he moved forward about 50 feet, watching the animal jog up behind him. The rumble Milo felt in his chest seemed to him like it was amused. To his amazement and relief, he saw the mother turn and follow her child, bellowing. Kelly returned with her inaudible call, and Ma responded with a snort. Her massive snout loomed above Milo. "Oh, boy! Okay, Ma, don't kill me. It's okay. I know you don't like me. Please don't kill me." The mother grunted reeking air over him, growling a reminder. She sniffed the strange vehicle, crest raised. After a moment she removed her head. "Okay. Will you follow me too?" Moving forward about twice the distance this time, he saw Kelly trot up curiously, as this was all some sort of game. Tolerantly, Nguma-monele paced behind her child. "Guys! Kelly'll follow, and Ma will as a result!" He heard a high-pitched hum from a vehicle and Kelly turned and moved toward Kida's vehicle, looking back so as to simultaneously view the other. Milo sped to hers to lessen any confusion for the beasts. "Some of us will have to walk. Who wants to drive?" He settled his vehicle on the ground. The smaller armag reverberated, probably thinking the vehicle to be asleep. She nudged it powerfully, almost tipping it and its driver over. "Okay! Okay!" He reactivated it, calming the creature.  
  
"Actually, we may not need to walk." Duma approached Mokele-mbembe.  
  
"Duma, you're crazy" Audrey yelled. "Are you doing what I think you're doing?!"  
  
"Probably." The man walked over to the creature, who welcomed him with an inspecting sniff. "You remember me. Yes. I put those bags on your tail. Now I'm just going to go around.. No! No. Don't turn. Good girl. Good girl. Let me climb on your tail. That's it. Don't move. Don't skewer me." He scrambled onto the armag's back. The beast turned its neck into a seemingly painful position to study him, but moved for her mother inspection. Her crest completely unfurled as to aim her horn right at him. She snorted slightly and raised her head, neither approving, nor disapproving. The mountain rumbled slightly, yet quite audibly. "Well, looks like we can ride on this little beauty." He petted Kelly's smooth brown-gray hide, who responded with a lifted crest.  
  
Audrey spoke up again. "Duma, you are crazy. It works, but you are crazy." She stepped up to the armag, along with the others, who ware looked over by the inquisitive creature. All but Neil climbed on, and was judged by the critical Nguma-monele. None were rejected. Neil rode behind Milo, saying the mother would not want the driver of the allegedly menacing car to ride on her precious child's back.  
  
"Neil? Here do we head?" Milo called from the front seat.  
  
"Well." He pulled a map from his pants pocket. "There!" he pointed, his direction not quite perpendicular to the tree line. "The cave should be in that direction."  
  
"Okay! Let's go." The Doltak moved onward, a bizarre caravan behind.  
  
. . .  
  
  
  
Milo shifted uncomfortably. He was still sore from riding on the carapace of Kelly for a while. "Well, at least it's my shift for the Ketak." He flew alongside the Doltak, which still sported Neil, but was currently being piloted by Vinny. "Neil! How much further?" The linguist shooed away a swamp insect and wiped his brow. He didn't care the end of his spear dragged along on the muddy ground.  
  
"Maybe only another mile."  
  
"Great!"  
  
"We should cross the river here. These things swim, right?"  
  
"According to legend and judging by their webbed toes." He turned the Ketak back toward the others. "Think you guys can manage to hold on while Kelly swims?"  
  
There were various affirmative responses. "Shouldn't be a problem. Thinkin' on it, though, will we bog Kelly down?" The doctor wiped a sweat droplet from his nose.  
  
"I sure hope not. Everyone ready?" After a number of "yes's" he turned his vehicle and led on, just before the smaller beast. Ma leapt in the river behind them, creating a wave that washed over everyone. Only Milo, Vinny, and Neil were left dry. The others sputtered for a moment, waist-deep in water as they crossed. They were glad their remaining supplies had been loaded onto the vehicles.  
  
"Look! That stone formation! It's the side of the cave!" exclaimed Neil.  
  
"Hear that, Kelly? You're almost home." Audrey stroked Mokele-mbembe's slick skin. The creature vibrated in and underneath the men and women.  
  
"C'mon everybody, here we go!" They began to move forward slightly after reaching shore, when a sound like thunder was joined by an agonized roar from Nguma-monele. Milo redirected his Ketak to see a car, partially obscured by shrubbery. "They're back! Vinny!"  
  
He nodded and turned the vehicle around, Neil holding on for dear life.  
  
Another blast sounded and Ma cried out as she rotated. The guns seemed more painful this time.  
  
"'Ey, you! Look over here!" Several shouts of Swahili exclamation sounded as thin bolts of energy tore the weapons from their hands and shredded the tires. The king could see the shocked faces of the Doltak loomed over them. In a menacing voice Neil yelled in Swahili, "Unless you want to be in a similar state, we suggest you leave and don't come back."  
  
The poachers nodded, got out of their car, not daring to remove their sights from the Atlantean vehicle, and ran.  
  
"You'd ah think seein' somethin' like a dinosaur wreck their car would have scared them off the first time."  
  
"Yeah." Milo maneuvered his vehicle to Nguma-monele, who glared threateningly at him. She limped a little as she walked. "Oh, no. Kida! Will crystals heal a hole in, say, the armor on their backs?"  
  
"That may have to heal on its own. If we try to heal it we will exhaust ourselves, most likely."  
  
"What a mess." He clenched his pendant, feeling its power in his hand, and pressed it into the wound in the carapace. She roared in angry pain and butted the Ketak with her side. Milo watched as he flew, seeing the vehicle hurtle into the river. He felt an enormous impact from behind.  
  
. . .  
  
"Are 'ya okay? Milo!"  
  
His eyes flicked open to see a huge dark figure. "Wha.?" The linguist suddenly found himself at the bottom of a tree. Everyone stood around him. "Uhhhhgggg. I think so. Remind me never to get one of these for a pet, okay?" Rubbing the back of his head, he found the other being pressed up against something with the use of careful digits. He realized his hand was touching Kida's face.  
  
"I am so relived!"  
  
"Don't worry about me, Kida. I'm okay." He got up a little painfully.  
  
"Milo, I don't think you should walk yet."  
  
"We're almost there, Sweet. I'm not hurt. I'll be fine." The scholar was caught by his tank top as he tried to walk away.  
  
"Hold on, there. Let me give 'ya a check up, first."  
  
"All right." Sweet tested Milo's reflexes and asked what hurt, as was typical. After a few moments the doctor concluded he had again been luck enough to receive only scrapes and bruises. "Now, take care of yourself! This is the second time in one trip!"  
  
"Yeah, I know, but we've gotta get these things back." The academic began to pace toward the cave, turning his head to look back. "Let's do it."  
  
  
  
  
  
Based off the Disney Picture "Atlantis: the Lost Empire." The name "Atlantis: Revelation," "armags," "kriperlok," and the characters Temlohn, Duma and Neil are my (Rebmakash's) property. The characters, "MUH-suh MIH-kee" and Khohbdesheh are my property, and I acknowledge I do not own the names. Fan fiction storyline also my property. Milo Thatch, Kidagakash, Puknohl, Wandehm and other characters, names, concepts, and all Atlantean in this story are property of the Walt Disney Company. I also recognize certain lines (such as "Salt, salt, and sodium chloride") are also property of the Disney Company. 


	6. CHAPTER 6: A lesson Taught

CHAPTER 6: A Lesson Taught  
  
The cave shuddered with the sound of heavy crunching, like bones being shattered at a steady pace. Milo sat, still glad the guides decided to accompany them despite all they had been through. "Then again," he thought, "they couldn't have exactly walked back."  
  
"How long have we been down here?" Audrey wondered aloud, holding onto one of the fin-like spikes on Kelly's back.  
  
"There's no tellin'. In addition to the extra gauze and bandages bein' in the pack that went down with the Ketak, my pocket watch was also in there."  
  
"You're not the only ones who wish you knew what time it was," Milo called down from the Doltak.  
  
"Milo, in a bit I think it's ah Mole's turn to ride the thing, eh?"  
  
The geologist grinned and put his hands together.  
  
"Yeah," he agreed, not looking forward to riding on the armag's hard back again. "So, uh, Kida, there haven't been any forks large enough for an armag yet, but do do know where you're going, right?"  
  
The woman, face lit blue from beneath by her crystal necklace, simply turned to look at him from the pilot's seat. "No."  
  
"No?!"  
  
"Do you truly believe I know every path to the city? A year ago I would not know my way to the surface at all. I know the hunting routes and game trails, but little more."  
  
"Okay." he sighed. "Well, tell us if you recognize anything, all right?"  
  
"Very well."  
  
"Hey, Cookie?" Milo yelled as he twisted around. He realized the armags had stopped again. "Kida? Ma and Kelly have stopped to eat again." He felt the Doltak turn underneath him as they turned around. The scholar wondered if eating kriperlok was like eating chocolate after years of eating nothing but steamed cabbage. It seemed to please Mokele-mbembe, for she always rumbled when she ate the plants. Loud echoes ricocheted off the cave walls as the plants were being chisled away by teeth. "Cookie? Should we break for dinner, breakfast.? Whatever this is?"  
  
"Y'know, that sounds good ta me," Sweet added.  
  
"So. who else is hungry?"  
  
The cook responded before anyone else could answer Milo's question. "Lets get to eatin' then. Got some jerky I could use to make all'r us a mean stew. Could even throw in some'r that plant down there. And I got plenty'r spices fer it all."  
  
"Salt, salt, and sodium chloride," Milo remembered quietly to himself. He wondered if the kriperlok by itself would almost be better for him to eat, knowing in all reality that would not be true.  
  
"Whoa! Hold on there, girl!" A mix of exclamations accompanied Cookie's as the armag jerked abruptly, raising both head and crest to listen as its mother was now doing.  
  
"What's that noise?" Audrey's voice was jarring compared to the silence.  
  
From the distance came forth the great calls of some enormous creature, familiar roars like thunder.  
  
Everyone heard the rush of wind as Nguma-monele inhaled deeply. She then emitted a bellow so loud everyone grabbed their ears to shut it out. The linguist released his head, looking up at the large armag. His ears rang like the bells of Notre Dame. Based on the body language of Ma, he concluded she received a currently inaudible response. Milo saw her inhale again.  
  
"Cover!" he yelled, barely able to hear himself. The academic man quickly plugged his ears again. The scholar felt another roar through his frame, as well as a deep, additional vibration he could only guess was Kelly.  
  
Gingerly he uncovered his ears, which still buzzed, and opened his eyes. Nguma-momele had begun to gallop in the direction of the initial sounds. Kelly, regardless of her passengers, crunched behind.  
  
"Kida!"  
  
"I am aware!"  
  
Milo held on tight as the Doltak whipped around to follow the beasts through the winding passageways. After a few rough moments of disarray the massive caverns began to fork and the creatures barreled through the routes, following the calls. The linguist quickly lost track of how many splits there were.  
  
"NEE-shen! Kwalm! (Spirits! No!)" Kida tightened her grip on her spear.  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"This is a game trail! There are armags on the game trail!"  
  
"What? Game trail for what?" he shouted over the cracking stomps.  
  
A course, deep screech from the side turned his wife's head, revealing a horrified expression turning to one of determination. "Charokh!" she snarled.  
  
"What in the cockle-doodle?!"  
  
"Sacré Bleu!"  
  
"Holy smokes!"  
  
The Doltak dodged the creature's immense maw, speeding away. The screaming insectoid raised its massive horned head in display before pursuing on it's many legs. It's crimson eyes seemed to glow in the dim light.  
  
"We've got to distract this thing!"  
  
"We will be blessed if we can merely slow it down! It is hunting Ma and Kelly, not us!"  
  
"Anything we can get! You know what to do!" The man jumped off the vehicle, grabbing hold of one of the massive serrated tusks of the charokh.  
  
"Milo! Do not be foolish!"  
  
"Ugh! You have a better idea?!" Clambering up he thrust with his spear toward the blood-red eye of the creature, but missed terribly when the creature lunged. It did not even seem to care.  
  
A whistling buzz sounded as a thin lightning blot crossed the king's sky. The charokh squealed and looked back at the Doltak. With a single leg it swatted at the vehicle like a fly, sending it careening.  
  
"KIDA! NOOO!" He almost lost his balance and glanced down, seeing the ground speed under him. To drop would mean death, if not by the fall, from being trampled. Milo climbed back on, hearing past the insectoid's calls various roars from above. "KIDAAAA!" Only then did he realize there were passageways above them, and they had started up a steep uphill slope. "Kida.!" Thinking of his wife he lunged again with his spear, hitting its target. The beast shrieked in pain, using a claw to try to remove the pest from its face. Milo dodged clumsily before being whisked upward. With a thud he landed on moving ground, the exoskeleton of the charokh. "Yaaaaaaa!" Using his spear, he thrust down between two plates to keep from sliding. There was a slight tremble beneath him. The animal felt it, but chose to keep pursuing its meal. Suddenly the creature burst into the upper chamber.  
  
Inside were not only Ma and Kelly, but also what appeared to be a whole herd of armags. Only here were the walls almost completely barren of the vines. The sauropod-like creatures pressed up against the sides of the cave, curled up in defensive postures with spikes and carapaces helping to conceal flesh. Only Ma, he noted, dared to step forward, snarling.  
  
Seeing easier targets, the charokh scrambled to the nearest armag, using its entire bulk to try and bowl the herbivore over and briefly expose its neck or underbelly. Milo was nearly crushed between chitin and carapace, being forced to pull in his legs to keep them. The insectiod moved back, ready to try again.  
  
When a grunt from behind was accompanied by an agonized screech, Milo turned to see a figure with a spear jabbed deeply between the creature's plates.  
  
"KIDA!" he cried in relieved surprise.  
  
The creature lurched, forcing her to hold on the same way her husband was. "We need help!"  
  
"No kidding!"  
  
Milo felt an unbelievable wave of heat as an explosion sounded. Both armag and charokh cried out, the former running away.  
  
"All right, Vinny!"  
  
"I got ah one more!"  
  
There was another incredible blast. The screeching beast held up charred, useless legs, then charged enraged at the cause of its injuries. Even minus a few sets of legs the charokh could still lumber along at a fast pace.  
  
Milo was deafened again by Nguma-monele's awesome roar. She had positioned herself between the predator and the rest of the team and her offspring. The linguist clenched his teeth as the charokh reared to slash downward with its tusks, the armag bellowing excruciatingly. She returned the pain, catching the creature in the side of the neck with her tail. The insectoid sank its fangs into her leg, and in response Ma slashed with the spikes along her neck, creating a sound on the exoskeleton like nails on a chalkboard.  
  
The linguist thought he could feel his ribs knocking together. To his astonishment, Kelly was peeking out from behind her mother, imitating her by waving her tail aggressively. This made for quite a ride fro the rest of the group Milo could hear the other armags vocalizing to each other.  
  
In its fury the charokh rammed Ma. She lay stunned on her back, twitching.  
  
The insectoid reared, screaming to announce its victory to all, ready to come down on its meal.  
  
The fluke-like blades of an armag's tail wooshed over Milo and Kida's heads, breaking their spears in the middle. A chorus of roars filled the great cavern as the other creatures closed in on the charokh.  
  
"They learned!"  
  
"Yes, bu--WHOOOOAAA!" The linguist and the huntress flew as an armag slammed into the aggressor. The two landed on one of the few places where kriperlok could soften their landing even a little. Looking up, he saw the crowd of armags beat the predator down into the fray. After a few seconds, the creatures backed away. The charokh lay lifeless as Ma rose.  
  
"YAHD-lu-goh-nikh!" shouted a male voice. Milo and Kida looked back to see a group of stunned hunters gawking at them and the still body of the insectoid.  
  
"Your highnesses!" exclaimed the leader. "Are you all right? I mean not to be irreverent, but what are you doing here? We were not expecting you."  
  
"We are fine, Wandehm. Thank you."  
  
"We, well, brought back some friends. Some you know and some you. don't." The scholar motioned to the two new armags after helping up his wife, nearly falling himself due to the gnarled vines. The entire herd investigated the two newcomers, scarlet crests raised as they sniffed. Even Kelly's passengers were inspected with some bewilderment. "Seems living in the upper world made these two armags a little more aggressive. They stood up for themselves as opposed to only being defensive. The others followed the mother's lead."  
  
A low rumble Milo felt in his chest increased in intensity. The younger armag trotted to this new group of people, sniffing the new hunters and huntresses in her typical fashion. The rest of the team dismounted carefully, sliding down Kelly's tail.  
  
"Is this their home?" Duma boomed, a little shocked at the whole situation.  
  
"Yes," replied Kida. "There is a one other group,, but with luck, they will meet and learn as well."  
  
"Good, but." Neil paused, though he was relieved. "How do we get home?" "Well, we need to go back to Atlantis, first. You'll be there a couple days, though." The bookish man rubbed at a scrape on his arm.  
  
"Oh, no. We're going to be fired coming back after so long!"  
  
"Don't worry, Duma," Sweet consoled. "It'll be patched up."  
  
After a nod, Milo turned to Wandehm. "How far is it to the City?"  
  
"It is nearly an hour's walk without the aid of spears, My King." The hunter took a step back as Mokele-mbembe looked him over.  
  
"My King?!" Neil and Duma simultaneously exclaimed.  
  
"Um." Milo smiled modestly, looking over his glasses and running fingers over his hair. "It's kinda a long story. You see a year."  
  
He trailed off, eyes widening as Nguma-monele approached. Even Kelly stepped back to allow her mother's enormous snout come through. The scholar nervously moved back as her horn pointed forward at him. She paused, the rank scent of her breath filling the immediate area.  
  
The linguist stood baffled, unsure of what to do. He looked to Kida for a moment, then to the hunters, who all essentially shrugged. Tentatively he reached out then to put his hand on the massive muzzle. Ma's crest went back, spike now pointing the other way. She pressed her massive snout against him.  
  
Milo slowly began to grin in amazement. "I. I think she likes me now!"  
  
Nguma-monele snorted loudly, a bit of clear, sticky fluid splattering itself on the scholar.  
  
Audrey laughed. "That probably means, 'Don't push it!'"  
  
To the amazement of everyone, the great armag emitted a cooing sound before lifting its head and leaving, Kelly then hurrying to join her new family.  
  
"Wow." Milo was simply awestruck. After a moment when the creatures had disappeared, his mind wandered. "I hope Packard and Garret found Marge is all right." he wondered aloud.  
  
"Packard. Packard. Yes!" Puknohl, another hunter, spoke in realization. "Khobdesheh received a notice. He was reading it out loud when I was reporting in to him--"  
  
"Reporting in? Why would you need to report in?" Kida cocked her head when she interrupted, confused.  
  
The hunters all gave her a strange look. Wandehm smiled, speaking to both Milo and Kida, though mostly the latter. "Do not worry, we shall make sure all of your injuries are treated at the clinic."  
  
"As I had began," said Puknohl, "it was a message through Whitmore Industries. I. remember something about Packard and Garret needing to leave you for some reason. but being relieved as far as 'he' could tell. I am guessing 'he' is Garret?"  
  
"Probably," Milo smiled "Looks like Marge is okay!"  
  
Puknohl's news was a relief to all.  
  
"Well, should we get underway, Milo? Sweet asked.  
  
"Yeah, we'd better."  
  
"I've got to see this." Neil crossed his arms and shook his head.  
  
Over the course of an hour they walked, the team actually happy to be using their feet instead of sitting, though the hazardous jumps that had to be undertaken were understandably not appreciated by the guides.  
  
Finally light flooded a section of the cave. Milo waved a hand to follow. Before them all opened up the grand cavern that held the shimmering lost city.  
  
"Whoa!"  
  
"Good gracious!"  
  
"Yeah, nice, isn't it guys?" He remembered his reaction a year ago to the splendor of the place. The scholar looked on again, taking in the feel of the soft earth beneath his feet and the salt-water scent he held so precious carried y the fluttering wind. He felt a presence beside him take his hand, and he took hers tenderly. When the queen laid her head on his shoulder, he rested his on hers.  
  
Together Milo and Kida gazed up at the city of Atlantis, a place they called home, a place of new discoveries, and a place of miracles.  
  
Together they would face what the winds of the future carried to them.  
  
???????????????????TL?NTIS: THE D?RK CONTINENT'S ENIGM?  
  
  
  
Credits:  
  
In loving memory: Holly the Hamster  
  
Starting my little obsession:  
  
Walt Disney & Everyone Involved in Making the Movie Including: Don Hahn Gary Trousdale Kirk Wise Michael J. Fox Cree Summer James Newton Howard To Name a Few  
  
  
  
Encouragers/Plot Hole Searchers Julie Goblinqueeen Fuse  
  
My Help in Editing Goblinqueeen  
  
Fellow Fans (To name a few, and in no particular order:) From the Search for Atlantis RPG and the Destination Atlantis Forum: Lisa Mahteim Mu Shahnahkehm Karen Julie Sarah Jodotha Cali Goblinqueeen Princesszeldabelle Mollydove Dawn Roaming_Tigress Bitsy Lieutenant Starlite Vegakeep Malkavien Bubble_gum_grl Jarofpaintbrushes Meg_Servo Sáhtibakósh/Jinjue DareDelvil Cacomixl Fuse Syren Roaklin Kat isolde_scheurer jozedxyqk  
  
Reference Books Used:  
  
The American Museum of natural History's Book of Dinosaurs and Other Ancient Creatures by Joseph Wallace  
  
The Dinosaur Data Book by David Lambert and the Diagram Group  
  
Dinosaurs Past and Present, Volumes I and II (Natural Museum of Los Angeles County in association with University of Washington Press)  
  
The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs by Dr. David Norman  
  
Supergiants! By Don Lessem  
  
  
  
Those Who Introduced Me to Fan Fiction:  
  
Everyone in the Atlantis_the_Movie Yahoo! Group Including, but not exclusive to: Zudomon Grim=20Stripper Kida Grath Raymond Chuang Ruggaphile Dibsdib Freakhybrid The Snow Grygon Jjvo  
  
Lisa  
  
Karen  
  
Julie  
  
  
  
  
  
Inspiration: The "Dinosaur" soundtrack, and thus The feel  
  
God The Movie and All Those Involved James Newton Howard, Whose Music Made Me a Fan Whatever that place is where my mind wanders to and doesn't come back  
  
  
  
Group Allowing You to Read This Right Now:  
  
Fanfiction.net  
  
  
  
Well, I notice you're still reading. I hope you enjoyed my story! PAH-geh-sheh-nekh  
  
  
  
Based off the Disney Picture "Atlantis: the Lost Empire." The name "Atlantis: Revelation," "armags," "kriperlok," and the characters Temlohn, Duma and Neil are my (Rebmakash's) property. The characters, "MUH-suh MIH-kee" and Khohbdesheh are my property, and I acknowledge I do not own the names. Fan fiction storyline also my property. Milo Thatch, Kidagakash, Puknohl, Wandehm and other characters, names, concepts, and all Atlantean in this story are property of the Walt Disney Company. I also recognize certain lines (such as "Salt, salt, and sodium chloride") are also property of the Disney Company. 


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